Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Deborah L. Hendricks, RN, MPH¹, Sharon Cross, RN, MSPH¹, and Susan M. Mitchell, MPH². (1) Healthy Families Section, St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health Department, 70 West County Road B-2, St. Paul, MN 55117, (2) St. Paul -Ramsey County Dept. of Public Health, 50 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102, 651-266-2428, sue.mitchell@co.ramsey.mn.us

In order to interrupt the cycle of intergenerational poverty and improve teen parent outcomes, Ramsey County Departments of Public Health, Human Services, and Employment Services developed a vision to embed MFIP (Minnesota Family Investment Program) goals in the broader context of public health nursing services to young parents. An assessment had determined that while policy makers and administrators valued teen parent services, program priorities were unclear, services were fragmented, and outcome evaluations were inadequate. Threatened with major funding cuts to a successful home visiting program, public health was allocated TANF block grant dollars to supplement remaining funding and expand services into a comprehensive, multidisciplinary program for teen parents. In addition to a focus on prenatal care, child health and development, parent-infant attachment, and family planning, new responsibilities included establishing education plans, authorizing childcare, distributing supportive service funds, monitoring school attendance and determining cash assistance sanctions. Multiple questions arose during program redesign and implementation. How can leadership and staff in departments with different practices and cultures come together around common goals? How is the value for collaboration balanced with the need for accountability? Are public health home visiting staff ready to take on mandatory roles? How is information shared among agencies with varying data practices? Policy and system changes include increased visibility of public health and prevention in welfare reform, coordinated approach to program evaluation, replication of matched caseworkers across the MFIP system, and the institutionalization of collective responsibility for the well being of teen parents and their children.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the collaborative process used in an urban county to reconstruct public health services to teen parents on public assistance
• Discuss challenges faced in planning and implementing program modifications across multiple county departments and community agencies
• Identify policy and system changes resulting from an innovative approach to teen parent services

Keywords: Teen Pregnancy, Welfare Reform

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered