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Liz Brooker describes the lessons from a successful project to support teenage parents in inner London.

"Teenage parent" is a phrase that trips readily off the tongue, in many contexts and with many, mostly negative, connotations - social problem, government concern, symptom of social exclusion, evidence of social decline. When the Social Exclusion Unit first reported on teenage pregnancy, numbers were certainly out of keeping with most of our European partners. And more importantly, the outcomes for young parents and their babies showed them to be distinctly disadvantaged.

The SEU’s report led to prompt action: local healthcare providers were required to investigate the incidence of teenage pregnancy and parenthood in their own areas and initiate strategies for reducing conceptions and for supporting young mothers. Numbers of conceptions and births have fallen steadily during the past three years, though they remain relatively high. And a range of pilot initiatives have now been undertaken and evaluated, showing the best ways forward for working with young parents.

Coram Young Parents Project is one of these. It was set up in summer 2000 as one of two Department for Education and Skills projects located in early excellence centres, to address the tendency for young parents to drop out of education and training before or during their pregnancy. The project was intended to provide a group of around 15 young mothers, aged 16 to 17, with fully funded child care and essential travel costs to encourage them to continue in education until they had gained some qualifications, or were eligible for employment. The DfES also funded a project worker for the service, which was housed in Coram Parents Centre - itself a part of the Thomas Coram Early Excellence Centre run by the Coram Family group of services.

More than 100 young parents have participated over the past three years, though participation, of course, means different things to different individuals. Some are in full-time college courses, attend parents’ centre groups and courses, and participate in holiday projects and trips; others use the project’s services more sporadically. Some have seized every opportunity to access educational advice, and acquire new skills and qualifications; others may have used the drop-in and advice services, but have not chosen to pursue education.

Some choose full-time child care for their child, while others are reluctant to leave their babies, or prefer to use family members for child care. The project workers have been careful not to impose their own agenda on the young parents who have been referred. Many have troubled backgrounds, and suffered from low self-esteem and low educational aspirations long before they became pregnant. Many are refugees or asylum seekers or have grown up in disadvantaged communities. Few have had early experiences that foster successful educational outcomes.

Nevertheless, the project’s success is already evident. Of the hundred-plus referrals, around half have had an educational assessment, and most of these have gone on to some kind of education - anything from an hour’s English class every week, to a small-group computer session, or an NVQ course in health and beauty, travel and tourism, business or social care. A minority have stayed in education for two years or more, progressing from part-time to full-time courses, taking A-levels and pursuing higher education. For their babies, high quality child care (mostly with childminders) has provided emotional security and stability, as well as providing a role-model for the mothers, and raising their ideals and aspirations for their children.

Interviews with young parents, conducted each year as part of the project evaluation, have pointed to some important "lessons of good practice" from the project, which the parents’ centre staff feel can be transferred to future schemes. They can be summarised as follows.

Involving people as individuals
Not many of the young people were ready to sign-up straight away to the offer of education and child care. Project staff allow each individual plenty of time to identify their needs and aspirations, often dealing first with fears about the birth, anxieties about the reactions of family members, and feelings of failure. At every stage, the young parents are supported in taking their own decisions. Several describe their surprise that the project workers "let you make your own mind up" and "don’t try and force you to do anything".

Making education accessible
Many of the young people referred have a long history of educational failure, and it takes time before they feel education need not be an ordeal, and that they themselves have the skills to succeed. All of the project’s participants are offered an assessment which includes a discussion of their plans and preferences, as well as some tests in basic skills. Several of them described this process as "really helpful", and "not really a test". The assessment enables staff to recommend the most appropriate next steps - one-to-one tuition, help with a CV, or a part-time course. Entry levels to most courses start low, and rise very gradually.

Making child care attractive
Obtaining child care is an anxious experience for these young people, many of whom are very protective of their babies. Facilities at the parents centre help this to be a gradual process: young mothers bring their babies to the drop-in (where they get to know and trust the crèche workers), before leaving them in the crèche while they attend classes in the next room. When they are ready to consider longer-term care, they are supported in visiting childminders and making their own choices. More than 30 young parents have entered childminding arrangements so far.

Offering all-round support
Coram Young Parents benefit not only from "their" project but from all the resources the parents’ centre offers to local families - a welcoming environment, opportunities to make friends, help and advice from centre staff, and support for parenting, such as baby massage, or workshops in child development and nutrition. A few of the young parents attend every day in their early months in the project. The high levels of inter-agency collaboration available in Coram Family means health, housing or benefits problems can be tackled promptly.

The project seeks to provide emotional support for young people. This comes from the project workers and centre staff, and from the bonds created between the young parents themselves. These have been facilitated by organised activities including social events, workshops (on for example photography or healthy living) and day and residential trips. Young parents who seem withdrawn when first interviewed are often transformed into confident young people by peer support.

Young people-oriented approach
The thread which runs through all these strategies is what a project worker has described as a "young-person-led" approach. The programme offered to them includes the activities they themselves have requested, and enables them to act like teenagers at the same time as recognising their responsibilities as parents.

¹ SEU, Teenage Pregnancy, HMSO, 1999

Liz Brooker is a lecturer and research officer at the London University Institute of Education.