Charting a Course for Economic Mobility and Responsible Parenting

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) forecasts inviting eligible applicants to submit applications developing interventions to educate teens and young adults about the financial, legal, and emotional responsibilities of parenthood. The primary goal of the grant projects is to leverage the child support program’s expertise on the legal and financial responsibilities of parenting to educate and motivate teens and young adults to postpone parenthood until after they have completed their education, started a career, and entered a committed relationship. The target populations for these three-year grant projects are teens and young adults ages 13-25, including unmarried parents and those who have not yet started families. The grant project design should identify existing public and private entities serving similar populations and establish and/or leverage partnerships to connect educational and motivational programs to additional supportive services promoting economic stability and healthy family formation. Grant project designs will build on, adapt, and enhance existing responsible parenting, paternity, and child support awareness models as well as develop new educational materials and tools. Grantees will be expected to prioritize partnerships with state or tribal universities to evaluate their projects and to share project materials and resources, intervention lessons, and promising practices for outreach developed as part of the grant project with other state and tribal IV-D agencies.