Federally mandated work participation requirements for pregnant and new parents in Philadelphia: Family Start services

Pregnant women and new parents are among the most frequent “dropouts” of work training programs. The time spent away from a program or work activity following childbirth makes it more difficult for a participant to return to job training. Maternity Care Coalition's (MCC) collaborated with the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation (PWDC) to provide Family Start services. Family Start services assist low-income pregnant women and new parents with transitioning from childbirth to successfully returning to a training/work experience. The service provides a range of educational and social supports including literacy, vocational support and job-access programs. Family Start helps new parents to a positive start as working parents by participating in a specialized postpartum home visiting program.

The presenter is a former community health worker (a “family advocate”) at MCC serving low-income pregnant women. She now coordinates services contracted with government work training programs. This presentation explores the responsibilities of the presenter from community health worker to program coordinator, which includes taking an active role in the policy process when government mandates attempt to change the delivery of services. The discussion will focus on a recent change in federally mandated work participation rates which made it difficult for pregnant women and new mothers because they were required to continue participation although they had an infant less than two months old. The program coordinator took an active role in the mediation process, working closely with the Executive Director and policy staff, together they had success in revising the work rules to benefit clients.