Comprehensive Wrap-Around Social Services for High-Risk Teen Parents and Their Families

The OJJDP FY 09 Earmarks Programs further the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Explanatory Statement Regarding H.R. 1105 (Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009), 155 Cong. Rec. H1653 (daily ed. Feb. 23, 2009) (statement by Rep. Obey, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House).

Eastern Michigan University proposes to continue a project to provide comprehensive wraparound social services for high-risk teen parents and their families. This project will expand services for the State's most vulnerable families, specifically teen parents who are homeless, have mental health problems, who have involvement with juvenile justice, and/or are foster children who become parents while still in care or when aging out, as well as the children (under age 8) of these teen parents. The project will provide integrated human services to high-risk families to prevent juvenile justice (re)involvement for the parents and emotional disturbance in their children. It will implement theory-driven prevention practices that focus on the Wraparound model, empowering the teen parents through ongoing Person-Centered Planning, as well as developing a network of social supports to assist the teen parents as a preferred alternative to government agencies. Through increased agency collaboration and community outreach, the project will identify and serve a greater number of these high-risk teen parents and measure outcomes through qualitative and quantitative methodology. NCA/NCF