Teen parents who rely on neighbors or relatives for childcare are more likely to miss school than peers who take their children to daycare centers, according to a new study released by the Công dân cho trẻ em và thanh thiếu niên (PCCY) advocacy group.

“The whole study and survey is a starting-off point in advocating for policy changes to make the process easier for teen parents and increase state funding for childcare subsidies, which is a very important resource for those families,” said Della Jenkins, the study’s author.

The report’s title is “How Does Access to Childcare Affect High School Completion in Philadelphia’s Multiple Pathways to Graduation Programs?” It examined how childcare responsibilities affect teen parents working toward their high school diploma.

In Philadelphia, an estimated 15,000 teen parents do not have a high school diploma and do not report working regularly for an employer. PCCY offered 18 recommendations for helping teen parents after conducting interviews with students and staff at 16 alternative education schools.

Teen parents identified difficulty finding suitable childcare services as a potential barrier to obtaining a high school diploma.

Respondents said bureaucracy, either childcare subsidies rules set by the state or policies of school districts and alternative education programs contributed to teen parents’ absence from school, Jenkins said.

“I heard firsthand from teen parents who are frustrated with the barriers that keep them from getting reliable childcare and cause them to miss school,” she said. “These young women are motivated to get back in school, but a lack of resources and complicated processes are keeping them out of the classroom.”

The report stated, “While we focused our conversations with parenting students on their childcare needs, preferences, and concerns, we also gained valuable insight on factors that contributed to teens leaving school, and on what elements of their current programs make it possible for them to attend school.”

The report listed a series of recommendations include revising state rules so childcare benefits aren’t cut off suddenly, and building accountability in programs catering to teen parents.

It also suggests giving teen parents more control over who cares for their child. Under current regulations, a teen parent is ineligible for childcare subsidies as long as there’s an adult in the household, regardless of their suitability to supervise a child or nature of their relationship with the child.

Jenkins said she found it surprising that teens who left their child with a relative or neighbor were more likely to be absent than teen parents who placed their child in a high-quality pre-kindergarten program or childcare center.

Administrators who help teens apply for childcare subsidies expressed frustration that so many students waited until the academic year to began to file applications.

The application process takes weeks to complete and teen parents must make child care arrangements until receiving their first childcare subsidy. During that transitional period, students are more likely to miss school days, according to the report.

The survey also said teens sometimes brought their young children to school with them because they were unable to find suitable child care.

Special allocations for teen parents, typically handed out at the start of the academic year, were also highlighted in the report.

“Once this money runs out,” the report stated, “they will only be able to serve more teen parents when the state increases their low income allocation. Since Multiple Pathways programs accept rolling admissions, students who enter school part-way through the year often find that the teen set-aside is gone and are forced to wait months for childcare subsidy.”

Contact staff writer Wilford Shamlin III at (215) 893-5742 or wshamlin@phillytrib.com.

The Philadelphia Tribune – August 1, 2014 – Đọc bài báo trực tuyến