Through the work of Public Counsel and the Alliance for Children’s Rights, pregnant and parenting foster teens have a new resource. The website, teenparent.net, is the first of its kind, covering the specific needs of foster youth making the transition from child to parent.
The site is sorted into four main sections: Teens, Legal/Rights, Caregivers and Resources. These headings are used to classify articles and resources on an enormous range of topics, from birth control information to understanding healthy infant development to their rights as foster youth and young adults transitioning to independence. While the site’s focus is those living in foster care and the people who care for them, much of its information would be relevant to any young person expecting a child.
The website was designed in collaboration with branding expert and web designer Jana Memel, who focused on the site’s accessibility for teens. One important aspect of the website’s mission is its founders’ desire to make the information really useful for its target audience, using “teen friendly language” and short, easy-to-digest videos. In successfully delivering its information, it will ideally demystify what, for many teens, can be a confusing and convoluted process.
According to an email from senior Public Counsel social worker, Mara Ziegler, to The Imprint, “The website’s goals are to help these teens parent successfully and transition to stable, productive adults so their children never enter the child welfare system.”
For more information, visit the website here.