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[What?]
Helps teen mothers learn how to be role models for their children. Parents are their children’s first and most influential teachers. The program focuses on strengthening the family unit, identifying needs, meeting needs and connecting peers in similar situations.
[How?]
- Intensive home-based parent education and mentoring
- Health & developmental screenings for children
- Weekly parent support groups
- Community resource awareness training
[2008 Accomplishments]
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95% of clients and 96% of clients’ children were accessing preventative and tertiary health care.
- We had no low birth weight babies; whereas the national average for teens aged 15-19 in 2001 was 9.4%.
- Reports of abuse/neglect were 2.7% at New Moms, compared to a 2003 average of 11% for teen parents nationwide.
- 100% of children who were found to have developmental delays were referred for diagnostic assessment and treatment before program exit.
- Rates of indicated child abuse/neglect were far lower after program involvement than national rates of teens in comparable groups.
- Provided more than 5,100 hours of parent education and mentoring.
- The repeat pregnancy rate for teenage mothers in the State of Illinois is 24%. In 2008 at New Moms, the rate of repeat pregnancy was only 0.7%!
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