Young Parents Empowerment Program

The Young Parents Empowerment Program began in 2021.  Contracted by the First Born® Program (FBP) in New Mexico, Black Health New Mexico (BHNM) convened two groups of young parents to offer feedback to initial Racial Identity Development curriculum pieces, and then, in 2022, to create curriculum to add to that existing curriculum.  Over 18 months, 2 groups of young parents collaborated to create training and curriculum consisting of advice, wisdom, and counter narratives about what it means to be a BIPOC parent navigating all aspects of systems steeped in white supremacy both in life and in New Mexico. Every topic was generated from their interests and lived experience to help inform home visitors and empower young families as they interact with and build trust within their home visiting experience. 

Black Health New Mexico chose this approach as an organization, because we believe that communities have the solutions to the problems they face. In keeping with this framework, it only made sense to resource young BIPOC parents to teach home visitors what their needs are. The results of this work have included:  

  • Recruiting young BIPOC parents in New Mexico to design home visiting materials

  • Providing them with an opportunity for dialogue and full articulation of their lived experiences through curriculum design

  • Peer and technical support for these young parent curriculum designers

  • Professional development opportunities to uplift their skillsets and lived experience

  • The creation of culturally congruent family facing materials in Spanish and English and professional development tools for home visiting staff in New Mexico and beyond

Based on shared values and respect, Black Health New Mexico (BHNM) and the First Born Program (FBP) are creating a unique intellectual property agreement rooted in racial equity and justice to support and value the work of these parents as authors, artists and thought leaders. BHNM, and the young parent curriculum developers, will share this work with our communities and collaborators. FBP offers a full Racial Identity Curriculum for any early childhood programs to purchase and receive training to help ensure equitable and welcoming services for all families. Together and in partnership, we look forward to making this curriculum public soon.