Project ELECT
Project ELECT Teen Parenting Program
Program Overview
The Education Leading to Employment and Career Training (ELECT) – a Pennsylvania Department of Education
initiative funded by the Department of Human Services – enables school districts and intermediate units to help pregnant and parenting teens earn a diploma or high school equivalency (HSE) certificate, become better parents and make the transition to employment, career training or higher education. There are 29 ELECT programs across the commonwealth. Their services are available to students ages 22 and younger, who meet income eligibility requirements.
Designed to meet the changing needs of pregnant and parenting teens, the ELECT Initiative uses group and one-on-one approaches to meet each student’s unique needs. ELECT programs have the following components:
- Promote resiliency and wellness
- Vocational, career and job readiness training
- Health care and nutrition education
- Secondary pregnancy prevention education
- Academic tutoring, mentoring and homework assistance
- Child development and parenting skills
- Access to child care and transportation
- Life skills training and family budgeting
- Intensive case management, including home visits
- Year-round educational activities, including summer contact
- Attendance tracking and retention
- Support for attaining a HSE diploma
- Domestic violence and substance abuse information
- Helping teen dropouts re-enroll in school or a HSE program