This brief provides specific ideas and guidance that other youth-serving organizations and partnerships may find valuable when orienting their work toward the needs of young people who are parenting and their families. 

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) is an initiative to increase education and employment opportunities for young people ages 14 to 25 who have been in foster care, been involved in the criminal justice system, or experienced homelessness. The Door in New York; Project for Pride in Living (PPL) in Minnesota; and the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation led LEAP partnerships that made serving young parents a key part of their capacity-building agendas. 

Here are the overarching strategies and lessons demonstrated by the LEAP Young Parent Cohort partnerships:

• At the service level, offering individualized, trauma-informed support while also intentionally considering the needs of children and parents helps families. Meanwhile, helping young people create meaningful connections with multiple staff members, prioritizing job quality for direct service staff, and documenting knowledge to persist within the organization all protect against the disruptions of staff turnover.
• At the organization level, shifting organizational orientation from the person to the family can positively influence how well young parents are served. Also, establishing or strengthening navigational supports and interorganizational communication smooths access barriers.
• At the systems level, engaging across organizations and with policymakers to work toward addressing systemic barriers for young parents can result in tangible positive change for young parents and their families.