Meeting the Multifaceted Needs of Expectant and Parenting Young Families Through the Pregnancy Assistance Fund
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Meeting the Multifaceted Needs of Expectant and Parenting Young Families Through the Pregnancy Assistance Fund Amy Margolis1 · Tara Rice1 · Mousumi Banikya‑Leaseburg1 · Ann E. Person2 · Elizabeth Clary2 · Susan Zief2 · Katie Adamek2 · Jessica F. Harding2
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Introduction The Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) program funds states and tribes to provide a wide range of services to improve health, social, educational, and economic outcomes for expectant and parenting teens and young adults, their children, and their families. This introductory article to the Maternal and Child Health Journal supplement Supporting Expectant and Parenting Teens: The Pregnancy Assistance Fund provides a description of the PAF program, including the program goals and structure, participants and communities served, and services provided; presents data on the reach and success of the program; and describes lessons learned from PAF grantees on how to enhance programs and services to have the best outcomes for expectant and parenting young families. Methods Performance measure data are used to describe the reach and success of the PAF program, and implementation experiences and lessons learned from PAF grantees were gathered through a standardized review of grantee applications and from interviews with grant administrators. Results Since its establishment in 2010, the PAF program has served 109,661 expectant and parenting teens, young adults, and their families across 32 states, including the District of Columbia, and seven tribal organizations; established more than 3400 partnerships; and trained more than 7500 professionals. Expectant and parenting teens and young adults who participated in the PAF program stay in high school, make plans to attend college, and have low rates of repeat pregnancy within a year. Conclusions Expectant and parenting teens and young adults in the PAF program demonstrated success in meeting their educational goals and preventing repeat unintended pregnancies. In addition, the staff who implemented the PAF programs learned many lessons for how to enhance programs and services to have the best outcomes for expectant and parenting young families, including creating partnerships to meet the multifaceted needs of teen parents and using evidence-based programs to promote program sustainability. Keywords Expectant and parenting teens · Young families · High school graduation · Repeat pregnancy · Lessons learned · Teen parents
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* Amy Margolis [email protected] 1
Division of Program Development and Operations, Office of Population Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 200, Rockville, MD 20850, USA
Mathematica, P.O. Box 2393, Princeton, NJ 08543‑2393, USA
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This article presents an overview of the Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) program, a unique program designed to address the multifaceted needs of expectant and parenting teens and young adults, their children, and their families. The article presents data and lessons fro
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