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Support for teenage parents is improving but involving young fathers remains a challenge, writes Gill Frances.

"I was ignored and made to feel like the second parent. Even the shop is called Mothercare - where’s the Fathercare?" Ryan, 17-year-old father.

This quote, taken from a recent Teenage Pregnancy Unit booklet,¹ illustrates a major obstacle to the drive to help teenage parents. How can service providers ensure that young fathers have an active role in bringing up their children?

This is one of the challenges outlined in the second annual report of the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) on Teenage Pregnancy,² published this summer. Set up to monitor the government’s performance on reducing teenage conceptions and tackling the social exclusion of young parents the IAG has welcomed the progress made over the past year, particularly with regard to support for parents and their families.

Supporting the role of teenage fathers, however, remains a difficult area. Not enough is known about how to maximise young fathers’ potential. The Trust for the Study of Adolescence has been commissioned by the Home Office to develop and evaluate an approach to working with vulnerable young fathers. It is vital that the findings from this study are used to develop an effective model that can be used across government and developed by local colleagues working in the statutory and voluntary sectors.

Housing for teenage parents is another challenge highlighted by the IAG report. A great deal of progress has already been made; the government has made a commitment to providing suitable accommodation to all lone parents under 18 who cannot live with their parents or partners. More providers are coming up with innovative housing solutions, incorporating advice on training, education and employment. Ekaya Housing Association, for example, provides floating support to teenage mothers and their babies in the London Boroughs of Southwark, Greenwich and Wandsworth. One young mother interviewed by the Independent Advisory Group said that her floating support worker had helped her get back into college, and had also secured a nursery place for her son.

However, housing providers must be careful to avoid a "one-size fits all" approach. Some young parents may welcome the opportunity to live in a shared hostel, but those who have grown up in residential care may wish to live more independently, while still being able to access support.

There has been progress on child care, although again flexibility is a key issue. One teenage mother who gave evidence to the IAG said that she could get child care if she visited her local project for young parents, but not if she went to college. As a result, she had to give up her further education.

Other young parents are finding that funding is available for child care so long as the money is spent on a nursery, but would prefer to use that money to reimburse a relative or close friend to look after their child. The government has made a welcome commitment to providing up to £5,000 for child care over two years for young people aged over 16 in training or at school, and this will also be piloted to under-16 year olds from April 2004. The next step is ensuring they are given the choice to spend that money according to their needs.

Overall, support for young parents is getting better. In many areas, providers are joining up to deliver a holistic service to young people, incorporating health support, child care, training and education. Provision remains patchy, however. Too many parents face obstacles in returning to education and employment, accessing adequate and affordable child care, and finding suitable housing. If anything, the picture is worse in areas with low teenage pregnancy rates, where young parents can easily slip through the net because of the lack of support services. There is also alarming evidence that many young parents - mothers as well as fathers - face discrimination on a daily basis, not only from the public but also from the professionals working to support them.

There is plenty of good practice out there. The challenge for the government is ensuring that this is built upon and extended throughout the country.

¹ Baby Fathers - New Images of Teenage Fatherhood, Teenage Pregnancy Unit, 2002

² The Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy - Annual Report 2002/2003, 2003

Both at www.teenagepregnancyunit.gov.uk

Gill Frances is deputy chairperson of the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy.