Teen Parent Program

A Bright Future for Parents and their Children!

A Chance To Grow and the Turnquist Child Enrichment Center provide door-to-door transportation and childcare services to teen parents throughout the year to ensure they stay in school and graduate. By collaborating with the Minnesota Visiting Nurses Agency, ACTG’s Teen Parent Program has resulted in 100% of teenage mothers served by our services earning their GED or high school diploma 2 years in a row.

Our goal is to influence change by providing a stabilized environment where teen parents are able to stay in school and receive child care that emphasizes cognitive development, allowing both parent and child to grow to their maximum potential.

We are able to offer teen parents infant supplies, transportation, food and non-food items (clothing) for the whole family, wipes, formula and baby food while your child(ren) attend(s) school.

We can help you with filling out county paperwork, GED and college enrollment, job searches, and vision and hearing screenings.

We offer you support through access to teen parent groups, parent education classes, car seat trainings, new mom and dad support, assistance in finding needed resources and family fun nights.

If you would like to learn more about A Chance To Grow or Turnquist Child Enrichment Center, please contact us at (612) 789-1236 or email turnquist@actg.org.

“We provide these teens with a continuity of care that will help them be able to choose their own path in life.
By providing reliable transportation and exceptional childcare, we are working to
close the achievement gap of two generations.”
-Bob DeBoer, ACTG Founder

By the Numbers

Nationally, about 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by 22 years
$11 billion per year is spent nationally on increased health care, foster care and incarceration for children of teens, and on lost tax revenue among teen mothers.
According to a 2014 Hennepin County study, only 32 percent of county-involved teen parents graduate high school and the dropout rate is among the highest in the state
According to the Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support, only 50% of teen mothers get their GED by age 22
Children of teen mothers are more likely to live in poverty, perform worse on many measures of school readiness, are 50% more likely to repeat a grade, drop out of high school, experience poor mental and physical health, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, and become teen parents themselves
Less than 2% of teen parents graduate college by the age of 30