Still Growing, Still Learning, Still Loving
Course Summary
Still Growing, Still Learning, Still Loving explores the unique strengths and challenges of teen parents as they raise their babies. We will look at how adolescent development shapes caregiving, attachment, and decision-making, and how complex family systems and past experiences influence parenting. Participants will learn strategies to support young parents in building strong bonds with their babies, while recognizing the resilience and potential they bring to the relationship.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how a teen parent’s developmental stage, relational history, and family system may impact caregiving and attachment.
- Recognize the emotional, relational, and systemic challenges faced by teen parents (and the unique strengths they bring to the parenting role).
- Apply trauma-informed strategies to support teen parents in building secure relationships with their babies, whether in foster care, kinship care, or community settings.
Suggested Endorsement Competencies:
Infant/ Young Child/ Family Centered Practice | Relationship-Focused Practice | Family Relationships & Dynamics | Cultural Humility | Responding with Empathy | Self-Awareness | Safety | Building & Maintaining relationships | Analyzing information | Maintaining Perspective | Service Delivery Systems | Community resources
