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Adolescent Parenting Program

Category

Family Support

Child's Age

Prenatal, 0-1 years, 1-2 years, 2-3 years, 3-4 years, 4-5 years

Participant

Parents/Guardian

Languages

English, Spanish

Brief Description

Adolescent Parenting Program (APP) is a home visiting model developed and run in coordination with the NC Division of Public Health (NC DPH) that increases teen parents’ self-sufficiency, delays additional pregnancies, increases high school graduation rates or achievement of the GED, improves child welfare and school readiness, improves positive parenting practices, and ensures children’s access to a safe home environment and medical home.

Expected Impact

  • Increased parental self-sufficiency
  • Increased high school graduation rates and GED achievement rates 
    • Fewer than 5% of APP participants will drop out of school
    • Over 65% of APP participants will plan to enroll in postsecondary education or training 
  • Improved child welfare and school readiness 
  • Delay of subsequent pregnancies until beyond adolescence 
    • Fewer than 3% of APP participants will experience a subsequent pregnancy while participating in APP

Core Components for Model Fidelity

  • Home Visits: Use the Parents as Teachers (PAT) curriculum for home visitations.
  • B3! Curriculum: Use the Be Proud! Be Responsible! Be Protective! (B3!) Curriculum during group instruction.  
  • Group Education: Provide quarterly group education sessions on topics directly related to the goals of APP.  
  • Educational Field Trip(s): Provide educational field trips to one family planning clinic and a college tour (four year or community college). 
  • Community Advisory Council: Convene a community advisory council (CAC) consisting of community partners, program participants, and program staff to provide feedback, increase community awareness, and review data for continuous quality improvement.
  • Referrals: Provided as needed over the course of participation with the assistance of the program's Community Advisory Council.

Languages Materials are Available in

English, Spanish

Delivery Mode

Home visits occur in-person or virtually, as prescribed in the Parents as Teachers curriculum.  
 
Group education sessions and the implementation of B3! Curriculum may occur in-person or virtually.  
 
While in-person implementation is preferred, virtual implementation may occur with prior approval from APP staff in response to COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

Dosage

Home visits occur at least once per month for a total of 12 months, with each visit lasting for 60 minutes. Participants receive 24 hours of group education or more per year through quarterly group/peer education sessions, and B3! Curriculum sessions.  
 
APP is a multi-year program.

Infrastructure for Implementation

Materials: Materials necessary for implementing PAT and B3 are required.

Space: If meeting in-person, reserving an adequate meeting space for all attendants is necessary.

Staffing Requirements

At least 1 full-time program coordinator serves a caseload of 15-25 teens. Most coordinators have at least a 4-year degree in social work or other relevant field, although this may vary.

NCPC strongly recommends staff receive training in the Standards of Quality for Family Support and Strengthening. Contact Positive Childhood Alliance North Carolina (PCANC) or National Family Support Network (NFSN) for more information, training, and certification. 

Training for Model Fidelity

Program coordinators are required to be trained in Parents as Teachers home-visiting curriculum (either the Subscriber or Model Affiliate level) and complete 24 hours of program-specific training each year, four of which must focus on health equity, health disparities, or social determinants of health. 
 
See APP Policy Manual for more information.

Contact Information

919-707-5700 

https://teenpregnancy.dph.ncdhhs.gov/app.htm

Juanella Tyler: TPPI Team Lead; juanella.tyler@dhhs.nc.gov  
 
The Adolescent Parenting Program (APP) developed by the NC Division of Public Health (NC DPH)

Cost Estimates

Smart Start funds can be used to expand existing APP sites to serve more families. The primary APP program is funded by and operated in coordination by DHHS. Visit this link to find the locations of existing APP sites: https://teenpregnancy.dph.ncdhhs.gov/docs/app/AdolescentParentingPrograms-FY20.pdf

Each program is funded at $75,000 or $100,000 per year depending on PAT Subscriber or Affiliate status.

Purpose Service Code (PSC)

5505 - Parent Education

Program Identifier (PID)

Adolescent Parenting Program (APP)

Minimal Outputs for NCPC Reporting

FY 24-25:

  • Number of parents/guardians participating†  

†Select Family Support Programs data collection will include basic demographic data for parent/guardian participants including Race, Ethnicity. Data on interpretation and transportation will be collected when appropriate.

Minimal Outcomes for NCPC Reporting

FY 24-25:

  • Increase in positive parenting practices

Minimal Measures for NCPC Reporting

FY 24-25:

  • Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2)

NCPC Evidence Categorization

Evidence Based- 4 publications. 3 involve a comparison/control group.

Research Summary

Four of the most relevant publications on APP1, 2, 3, 4 sampled APP program graduates and comparable non-participants. Results indicated that APP participants were more likely than their non-participant peers to complete high school, enroll in community college or a four-year college, pay for their housing and utilities, be employed, and utilize government subsidies. Their children were more likely to be born at a “normal” birth weight and at full-term, supporting participation in APP beginning during pregnancy and continuing postnatally. APP participants were less likely to report having multiple children, smoking, drinking alcohol, and having friends with police arrest records. They also demonstrated greater improvements in contraception use and parenting knowledge. Study limitations include some small sample sizes, lack of randomization, and possible selection bias. 

  1. ^ See Gruber (2012). This publication was included in a previous edition of Smart Start’s EB/EI catalogue. The study is a non-experimental design with a retrospective comparison of program and non-program participants. Study participants were eligible for Blue Medicaid, enrolled in high school or a GED program within 90 days, had 1 child under 3 years of age, and consented to participate. Comparison group participants were “friends or acquaintances” of APP program graduates who were over 18 years old and had children of a similar age as the graduate. Research measures included surveys (lasting 60 to 90 minutes) and the Young Female Parent Life Status Assessment Form. All study participants received compensation for their time.  
  2. ^ See Sangalang (2006). This study uses a nonequivalent control group design. Participants were pregnant and parenting adolescent mothers (12-19 years; control and comparison groups had differing racial/ethnic compositions). 
  3. ^ See Sangalang & Rounds (2006). This study is a one-group pretest-posttest study. Participants were pregnant and parenting adolescent mothers (12-18 years; 65% Black and 26% White). Research measures include the AAPI-2 and KIDI assessments. 
  4. ^ See Sangalang, Barth, & Painter (2006). This study is a non-experimental design with a retrospective comparison of program and non-program participants. Participants included APP participants and non-participant teen parents. Research measures include the APNCU Index.

Researched Population

  • Pregnant and parenting teen mothers (typically 12-19 years old) with children under age 5, representing diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds
  • Low-income populations

Clearinghouse and Compendium References

California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare- rated 3 Promising Research Evidence

Gruber, K. J. (2012). A comparative assessment of early adult life status of graduates of the North Carolina Adolescent Parenting Program. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 25, pp. 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2012.00324.x

Sangalang, B. B. (2006). Teenage mothers in parenting programs: Exploring welfare outcomes during early transition to parenthood. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 87(1), 105-111. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.3489

Sangalang, B. B., & Rounds, K. (2006). Differences in health behaviors and parenting knowledge between pregnant adolescents and parenting adolescents. Social Work in Health Care, 42(2), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1300/J010v42n02_01  

Sangalang, B. B., Barth, R.P., & Painter, J. S. (2006). First-birth outcomes and timing of second births: A statewide case management program for adolescent mothers. Health & Social Work, 31(1), pp. 54-63. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/31.1.54



Local Partnerships Currently Implementing

Local Partnerships in purple have adopted Adolescent Parenting Program. Local Partnership contact information can be found here.