Casey Invests in Multiyear Effort to Support Young Parents and Their Kids - The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Casey Invests in Multiyear Effort to Support Young Parents and Their Kids

Posted January 11, 2021
By the Annie E. Casey Foundation
Young parents with their child

The Unit­ed States is home to an esti­mat­ed 4.5 mil­lion youth and young adult par­ents, most of whom are Black or Lati­no. The Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion is work­ing with part­ners in four cities — Austin, Char­lotte, Mia­mi and San­ta Fe — as well as sev­er­al nation­al orga­ni­za­tions to bet­ter sup­port these young par­ents and their children.

Called Expand­ing Oppor­tu­ni­ties for Young Fam­i­lies, this mul­ti­year effort aims to bol­ster the edu­ca­tion­al and eco­nom­ic suc­cess of young parents.

Young peo­ple who become par­ents by their mid-20s often face unique chal­lenges that make it hard to earn, learn and raise a fam­i­ly,” says Rosa Maria Cas­tañe­da, a senior asso­ciate at the Casey Foun­da­tion who man­ages invest­ments in two-gen­er­a­tion approach­es. This effort is about under­stand­ing and address­ing those chal­lenges and help­ing young par­ents achieve the goals they have for them­selves and their children.”

Five Goals of Expand­ing Oppor­tu­ni­ties for Young Families

Expand­ing Oppor­tu­ni­ties for Young Fam­i­lies has five pri­ma­ry objectives:

  1. tap into young par­ents’ desire to suc­ceed and help them engage in lead­er­ship roles with­in their communities;
  2. help youth-serv­ing pro­grams bet­ter engage with and sup­port young parents;
  3. strength­en young par­ents’ path­ways to oppor­tu­ni­ty, includ­ing work­force train­ing and post­sec­ondary education;
  4. improve access to ben­e­fits that meet basic needs, includ­ing ear­ly child care; and
  5. expand coach­ing, peer sup­port and oth­er strate­gies that help young par­ents suc­cess­ful­ly nav­i­gate life’s challenges.

The Casey Foun­da­tion and its nation­al part­ners — Advo­cates for Youth, Amer­i­can Pub­lic Human Ser­vices Asso­ci­a­tion Cen­ter for Law and Social Pol­i­cy, Child Trends and Nation­al Crit­ten­ton — are pro­vid­ing tech­ni­cal assis­tance to a col­lab­o­ra­tive that is dri­ving local efforts in each of the four par­tic­i­pat­ing cities. This assis­tance is designed to help sites strength­en their lead­er­ship and orga­niz­ing efforts; iden­ti­fy sys­temic bar­ri­ers; advance pol­i­cy solu­tions; improve access to edu­ca­tion­al and skill-build­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties; and posi­tion young par­ents for careers and earn fam­i­ly-sus­tain­ing wages. Casey is also facil­i­tat­ing peer-learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, which offer net­work mem­bers a chan­nel for shar­ing best prac­tices and promis­ing approach­es on an ongo­ing basis.

Learn more about Expand­ing Oppor­tu­ni­ties for Young Families