SUPPORTING YOUNG PARENTS of related interest KidsNeed… ParentingCardsforFamiliesandthePeoplewhoWorkwithThem MarkHamer ISBN9781843105244(CardGame) KinshipCare FosteringEffectiveFamilyandFriendsPlacements ElaineFarmerandSueMoyers ISBN9781843106319 QualityMattersinChildren’sServicesseries PassionateSupervision EditedbyRobinShohet ISBN9781843105565 ProfessionalRiskandWorkingwithPeople Decision-MakinginHealth,SocialCareandCriminalJustice DavidCarsonandAndyBain ISBN9781843103899 ResidentialChildCare ProspectsandChallenges EditedbyAndrewKendrick ISBN9781843105268 ResearchHighlightsinSocialWorkseries YoungPeople’sTransitionsfromCaretoAdulthood InternationalResearchandPractice EditedbyMikeSteinandEmilyR.Munro ISBN9781843106104 ChildWelfareOutcomesseries BabiesandYoungCh ildreninCare LifePathways,Decision-makingandPractice HarrietWard,EmilyR.MunroandChrisDearden ISBN9781843102724 ChildWelfareOutcomesseries SUPPORTING YOUNG PARENTS Pregnancy and Parenthood among Young People from Care Elaine Chase, Ian Warwick, Abigail Knight, and Peter Aggleton Foreword by Ann Phoenix JessicaKingsleyPublishers LondonandPhiladelphia Firstpublishedin2009 byJessicaKingsleyPublishers 116PentonvilleRoad LondonN19JB,UK and 400MarketStreet,Suite400 Philadelphia,PA19106,USA www.jkp.com Copyright©ElaineChase,IanWarwick,AbigailKnightandPeterAggleton2009 Forewordcopyright©AnnPhoenix2009 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedinanymaterialform(including photocopyingorstoringitinanymediumbyelectronicmeansandwhetherornottransientlyor incidentallytosomeotheruseofthispublication)withoutthewrittenpermissionofthecopyright ownerexceptinaccordancewiththeprovisionsoftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988 orunderthetermsofalicenceissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgencyLtd,SaffronHouse, 6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS.Applicationsforthecopyrightowner’swrittenpermission toreproduceanypartofthispublicationshouldbeaddressedtothepublisher. Warning:Thedoingofanunauthorisedactinrelationtoacopyrightworkmayresultinbotha civilclaimfordamagesandcriminalprosecution. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Supportingyoungparents:pregnancyandparenthoodamongyoungpeoplefromcare/ ElaineChase…[etal.]. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-1-84310-525-1(pb:alk.paper) 1. Teenageparents.2. Teenageparents--Counsel- ingof.3. Teenageparents--Servicesfor.4. Teenagepregnancy.5. Home-basedfamilyservices. I. Chase,Elaine,1962- HQ759.64.S872009 362.820835--dc22 2008023390 BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary ISBN9781843105251 ISBNpdfeBook9781846428838 PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby AthenaeumPress,Gateshead,TyneandWear CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 FOREWORDBYANNPHOENIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2 Putting Pregnancy and Parenthood in Context . . . . 37 3 Being Young, Being in Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 4 Going It Alone: Young People’s Experiences of Learning about Sex and Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . 70 5 Deciding What to Do: Young People’s Reactions and Responses to Pregnancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 6 Being Pregnant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 7 Being a Mum, Being a Dad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 8 Finding a Balance: Young People’s Experiences of Child Protection Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 9 Getting Help from Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 10 Moving Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 SUBJECTINDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 AUTHORINDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Dedication In memory of Kim Rivers, a dear friend and colleague, who started the project on teenage pregnancy among young people in care, of which this book is the culmination. Her dedication to research and writing, and her wonderful sense of humour, inspire our work and won’t be forgotten. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TheresearchonwhichthisbookisbasedwasconductedattheThomas CoramResearchUnitattheInstituteofEducation,UniversityofLondon. It was funded by the Department of Health, to which we express our sincere thanks. The views expressed throughout the book, however, belong to the authors and the young people participating in our study. Wewouldlikeespeciallytothankalltheyoungpeoplewhopartici- patedandwhoweresowillingtosharetheirlivesandexperienceswith us.Thanksalsogotothemanyprofessionalsandcarersacrossthevarious study sites who gave generously of their time and commitment. Wethankalsothevariousmembersoftheresearchteamwhoworked withusonthestudy:MariaZuurmond,LisaRuxton,EkuaYankah,Sarah Heathcote, Claire Maxwell and Stuart Watson. In addition, special thanksgotoAntoniaSimonandCharlieOwen,whoprovidedstatistical expertise and knowledge to the project, and to Penny Mellor, who provided invaluable administrative support throughout. Our thanks also go to all the members of the specialist advisory group for support and guidance: Carolyn Davies, Sharmila Kaduskar, Catherine Dennison, Lisa Williams (all at the Department of Health); Helen Jones (Department for Education and Skills); Mark Jennet and GeraldineMcCormack(HealthDevelopmentAgency);HelenChambers and Gill Frances (National Children’s Bureau); Sarah Carter (Buckinghamshire Health Authority); Caroline Thomas (University of Stirling); Emma Beckwith (A National Voice); Janet Janeway (SwindonBoroughCouncil);NigelFarrow(NottinghamSocialServices (cid:2) 7 (cid:2) 8 (cid:2) SUPPORTING YOUNG PARENTS Department);ChristineHumphrey(SocialServicesInspectorate,Quality Protects);RogerIngham(CentreforSexualHealthResearch,University of Southampton); Melvyn Davis (Coram Family); and Judith Corlyon (Tavistock Institute). For the book as a whole, special thanks go to Daisy Ellis for her administrative support. FOREWORD Youngpeoplewhohavebeen‘lookedafter’bylocalauthoritiesaremore likely than their peers to become parents while they are teenagers. In a contextwhereteenageparentingandoutcomesforthoseleavingcareare both the subject of policy intervention, it might be expected that they will have been the focus of a great deal of research. Yet, we know rela- tively little about the lives and perspectives of young parents who have been looked after. This book helps to advance understanding of the experiences of this group of young parents and, in doing so, gives practical insights into ways in which they might be supported. Its major contribution results from the careful, contextualised research it reports on, its nuanced attention to what young parents say and its non-moralising and non-pathologising stance. The authors are to be commended for managingtoincludeyoungfathersinthestudy(ratherthanonlyyoung mothers, as is mo re common). They are thus able to analyse both mothers’andfathers’feelingsabout,andexperiencesof,youngparent- hood and, in some cases, to juxtapose what each member of a parental couple say about pregnancy, parenting and their relationships. The introductory chapter contextualises contemporary perspectives on young people, pregnancy, parenthood and support for those looked after by situating them historically and within current legislation. It presents simplesummaries of thegovernmentpolicies andprogrammes that aim both to safeguard children and to promote their well-being. Thisinitselfwouldconstituteavaluableresourceforthoseworkingwith (cid:2) 9 (cid:2) 10 (cid:2) SUPPORTING YOUNG PARENTS or researching young parents and/or those looked after. However, this book does much more. From Chapter 2 onwards, the authors bring alive the members of their sample by examining what they say and contextualising their accounts in their personal histories, the experiences of the sample as a whole and the wider social context. These detailed accounts allow readerstobecomefamiliarwiththecircumstancesoftheyoungpeople’s livesandmakeiteasytounderstandwherethepolicymessagespresented come from and why they are relevant. It is worth highlighting some of themainmessagesthatunfoldinthechaptersthatfollow.Bydefinition all the young people had disrupted family relationships, but they also commonly report experiences of inadequate sex education and lack of adult attention to the early, and often unsatisfactory, initiation of their sexual careers. On leaving care, many had difficulty obtaining high qualityaccommodation.Althoughtheysharedsuchproblematicexperi- ences,theyoungpeopleweredifferentiatedbyethnicity,thenumbersof childrentheyhave,theageatwhichtheyfirsthadthemandtheirfamilial andrelationshiphistories.Asaresult,theimpactofparenthoodandhow they were able to deal with it also differed. Thechaptersthatfollowdonotromanticisetheyoungpeople’slives. Forexample,wemeetacouplewhosethreechildrenhavebeenremoved becauseof their heroinuseandseetheir disappointmentwiththerudi- mentaryhelptheyreceivedindealingwiththeirdependency.Incontrast, wealsomeetamotherwhoishelped,whenpregnant,bythemotherof her violentpartner andtakenintoarefuge.Weseeamother strivingto getappropriatehelpsothatshecangivehertwochildren,whohavedis- abilities, the best pos sible life. Yet, despite the difficulties they faced, the young people are mostly positive about their experiences of being pregnant and of parenthood. Many talk of the new responsibilities that parenthood entails, but most welcomethestabilitythatchildrenbroughttolivespreviouslymuchdis- rupted.Theyexpresscommitmenttotheirchildrenanddeterminationto give them the security they themselves lacked in childhood. When we meet them in the early years of their children’s lives, they were making strenuouseffortstodoso,despitethedifficultcircumstancesmanyfaced.