Child Care at High Schools Helps Teenage Parents Succeed

Teenage parents at a New Haven high school who took advantage of on-site child care improved their school performance significantly, showed exceptional diligence in keeping their children’s pediatric visits and immunizations up to date, and had no repeat births, according to a study by two researchers at the School of Nursing.

The study focused on the Elizabeth Celotto Child Care Center at Wilbur Cross High School, an infant and toddler program which provides care to 32 children while their parents attend classes. The center, which is directed by Lorraine DeLuz, also features daily parenting classes coordinated and taught by Jean Davis. In addition, the teen parents spend regularly scheduled time at the child care center performing parenting activities and providing developmental stimulation to their children. Many support services are provided to the student-parents, including transportation, outreach and legal assistance.

The study, conducted by School of Nursing researchers Elizabeth Gillis, Lois Sadler, Martha Swartz and Pat Ryan-Krause, investigated the effects of the center on 52 first-time parents in relation to their grades, school attendance, educational success, repeat births and measures of their children’s health. The study began in 1995-96, when the center opened, and continued through the current school year.

According to the researchers, there was a significant change in the student-parents’ grade point average before and after enrolling with the child care center. Overall, the average pre-enrollment GPA of the 52 parents was 1.74; this improved to 2.30 post-enrollment. Absentee rates were comparable to those of non-parent students at Wilbur Cross High School. The significant relationship found between post-enrollment grades and attendance rates suggested that as attendance improved, so did grade point average, say the researchers.

Also encouraging, say the researchers, was the high level of educational success experienced by these parents. Of the 52 parents in the study, all graduated from high school or were continuing in high school. Of the 11 students graduating this year, all are enrolled in college for the fall. These figures compare favorably to other studies in which the rate of educational success among student-parents was only 59 percent when on-site child care services were not provided, note the researchers.

The study also noted the health effects of the program. Teen parents with children enrolled in the child care center have had no repeat childbirths. At least 90 percent of the children enrolled at the child care center were up to date on both their immunizations and pediatric well-child care visits. This also compares very well to national statistics, which indicate that only 75 percent of 2-year-olds are current with their immunizations, the researchers note.

The study results will be used by the New Haven Board of Education and the center’s staff and board members to help increase funding for maintaining and expanding the center’s operation.

School of Nursing researchers have now launched a study to determine the influence of the child care center on the transition to parenthood for these teenage parents.