The Parent Linking Program provides adolescent parents support to lead successful lives.
Teen parents
Schools
Children
Counties across NJ
About Our Programs
Parent Linking Program provides more than 150 adolescent parents in 8 schools with the support needed in order for them to graduate high school and strengthen their parenting skills. The program also provides childcare services for 100 children ages 0-3 in 7 counties across the state of NJ.
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What is the Parent Linking Program?
PLP supports expectant and parenting teen mothers and fathers using evidence-based practices that consider each individual’s stage of development and promote family involvement. PLP provides free school-based services for expectant and parenting teens statewide which includes child care, parenting groups, individual counseling, crisis intervention, and intensive case management. PLP is informed by the Strengthening FamiliesTM approach to increase family strengths through five key protective factors: parental resilience, social connections, knowledge of parenting and child development, concrete support in times of need, and social and emotional competence of children. The program’s goals are to assist participants in their preparation and facilitation of parenting behaviors, to encourage healthy relationships, functioning, health, and well-being, to support individual educational achievement and career planning, and to delay subsequent pregnancies.
Who is Eligible to Participate?
Any expectant or parenting student who attends a sponsoring high school is eligible to participate in the program. The program serves both mothers and fathers.
What do the centers provide?
The centers provide quality child care services during school hours to parents in the high school who are enrolled in the Parent Linking Program.
- A fully developed curricula to address the developmental needs of the infant/toddler
- Opportunity to visit and interact with their children during lunch hour or free period
- Regular parent conferences with the child care center staff to keep parents up to date on their child’s progress
- Group services for the adolescent parent focus on parenting skills, child development, co-parenting, healthy relationships, and life skills