Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) announced on Feb. 7 the district had received $50,000 from the health improvement philanthropy Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW) to support student-parents.
The funding provided by AHW is part of a broader $72,000 health project titled “Partnerships for Success: Innovative Health Support for Young Parents in Schools” that looks to address health disparities for teen parents. This project is in partnership with the Young Parent Collective and Public Health Madison & Dane County.
There are more than two dozen student-parents across MMSD’s six high schools who must simultaneously provide child care and attend school, according to the press release. Additionally, school nurses and health service workers in the district currently operate at a ratio of one nurse to 750 students, making it difficult to provide proper care to teen parents.
The project will integrate health, mental health and educational services for student-parents while they are in school. Specific activities for eligible students include tailored health assessments, connections to prenatal care and doulas, mental health counseling, peer support networks and educational mentoring.
MMSD’s associate superintendent Jay Affeldt said in a press release Feb. 7 that the funding would help students reach their educational potential.
“We expect that this grant will allow us to provide more comprehensive supports for this vulnerable part of our community,” Affeldt said.
The district currently has the Capital High Parenting Program, which provides core curriculum and classes on parenting skills to pregnant and parenting students.
Formerly known as the School Age Parent Program, the school has existed since the early 1970s to provide educational solutions for expecting and current teen parents.
This project received funding from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Morgridge Center for Public Service research grant in 2020.
MMSD hopes to continue the positive trajectory of Capital High with the new funding, Leia Esser, the district’s executive director of student and staff supports, said in a press release.
“We anticipate being able to take the lessons we’ve learned [with the program] and more broadly apply them with this aid,” Esser said.
Through this grant, AHW hopes to gather information about teen-parent support that can be applied to other districts in the future.
