FY26: Attendance at group sessions continues to be challenging for our Teen Parents because they are juggling so much and often lack support from their own parents/families. Transportation also continues to be a barrier. The one-on-one sessions are better attended and more helpful in some ways because they are often conducted either in their homes or at the Family Support Center in conjunction with other services, which makes it far easier for the teen moms to participate. They all express how much they enjoy and value the group sessions when they can attend - being among other teen parents can feel very comforting and validating, particularly given the struggles and trauma associated with being a teen parent - but we're finding that the group sessions are just challenging because these youth often have so little flexibility in their days or are struggling with other issues (baby health, school work, family conflict, etc.) that make attending very hard. Staff continue to work on ways to address these barriers to encourage and improve attendance.

Now that the BEST team is working with both Teen Parent Programs at West County and Annapolis Family Support Centers, they are exploring new approaches at both locations to see if there are ways to improve attendance. 

• West County Family Support Center
• AACC Teach Institute & Parenting Center
• AACPS
• Teen parents
• Family members
• Partnership CYF

• Virtual options as an alternative to in person group sessions or in a hybrid model where some meetings are virtual and others remain in person
• Funding for transportation (Uber, Lyft, etc.)
• Changing schedule of group sessions to better align with teen parents schedules and the supports available to them
• Increase 1 on 1 sessions, decrease group sessions

The BEST 2.0 team and Family Support Center staff are collaborating on incorporating a couple of different approaches to try to make the group sessions - which all of the teen parents really like and value when they can be present - more accessible through a combo of schedule adjustments and incorporation of virtual options.