Programs and Services: Support

Teen Parent Program

The Teen Parent Program helps teens cope with the daunting task of parenting while also facing the physical, emotional, and social challenges of adolescence. The Program works to ensure that social, emotional, and logistical support is available to teen parents and their children when and where they need it.

To assist young families, the Teen Parent Program provides:

• Home visits, in which counselors and teens discuss parenting skills, educational and career goals, financial concerns, health and dental needs, and other issues;
• Individualized support and advocacy tailored to the needs of each family;
• Assistance with transportation to doctor and dentist appointments, the local food shelf, thrift shops, and grocery stores;
• Recreational outings such as picnics, swimming trips, and visits to art exhibits to help teen parents learn how to have healthy fun together.

The Teen Parent Program also offers teen-led panel discussions in area schools to help students understand the challenging realities of parenting at an early age. The panel presentations are well attended and are an important teen pregnancy prevention approach.

The Teen Parent Program maintains an average caseload of over 20 teen parents and 20 children who are referred to the Bureau by local schools, state agencies, doctors, other service organizations, and teen parents themselves.

 The Bright Smiles Project
Recognizing the difficulty that teen parents and their children face in obtaining needed dental services, the Teen Parent Program has established a project called Bright Smiles. The goal of Bright Smiles is to improve the dental health of teen parents by connecting them with dentists, distributing dental hygiene products, teaching proper dental hygiene techniques, and providing information about Medicaid entitlements. The Program is building partnerships with Vermont dentists and working to ensure that all program participants and their children achieve and maintain good oral health.

In the fall of 2008 the Teen Parent Program's Bright Smiles Project received the S. Whitney Landon award of $25,000 from the Turrell Fund. This award is given annually to a program which exemplifies outstanding service to Vermont's children.

For more information about the Teen Parent Program and the Bright Smiles Project, contact Joy Spontak at 229-9151 or jspontak@youthservicebureau.info