A Guide to Effective Strategies for Supporting Expectant Transition-Age Foster Youth

Transition-age youth (TAY), defined as individuals aged 14 to 26 years transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, face unique challenges, particularly those who have been in foster care. These challenges are even more pronounced for pregnant or expectant TAY exiting foster care who encounter multiple, concurrent risk factors across health, mental health, education, employment, and social services sectors. These young individuals frequently lack awareness of existing programs and supports for pregnancy or face barriers in accessing these resources. Additionally, social service agencies and service providers often struggle to identify these youth, coordinate care, and tailor services to meet their specific needs. This fragmentation in program design and service delivery, largely because of organizational barriers, has led to significant disparities for expectant and parenting TAY, particularly among youth of color. High-quality programs, services, and supports can improve critical life outcomes and potentially mitigate the impacts of racism and racial bias on pregnant individuals of color by offering tailored, culturally appropriate, and client-centered care and advocacy. There is considerable potential for large-scale positive intervention by identifying and learning from existing programs.

For this guide, researchers from RAND examined the evidence surrounding perinatal programs, services, and supports that could enhance outcomes for TAY in foster care who are expectant parents. Furthermore, researchers explored gaps in programming for expectant foster TAY in Atlanta, Los Angeles County, and New York City and offer insights on opportunities to strengthen support for these individuals.