	Pregnancy Support Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-PS 6: Pregnancy Options Counseling/Birth Options Counseling

Individuals receive nondirective counseling and information services that help them make decisions about the pregnancy.

Note: Agencies that offer counseling on all possible options for the pregnancy (i.e., parenting, adoption or other transfer of custody, and termination) will be considered to provide Pregnancy Options Counseling. Agencies that offer counseling only on parenting and adoption or other transfer of custody (i.e., not on termination) will be considered to provide Birth Options Counseling, and will be rated according to slightly different criteria for standards PA-PS 6.01, PA-PS 6.02, and PA-PS 6.07. See the interpretations to these standards for further guidance.

NA The agency does not provide counseling services designed to help individuals make decisions about their pregnancies.

PA-PS 6.01

Individuals have the option to be counseled and fully-informed about all possible options for the pregnancy.

Interpretation: Possible options include parenting, planning for adoption or other transfer of custody, and termination. When an agency offers only Birth Options Counseling, and thus does not provide counseling and information related to termination, the agency should: (1) disclose this fact to service recipients, as referenced in the Interpretation to PA-PS 1.02, and (2) demonstrate that it carefully considered its mission, capacity, resources, and community’s needs when it decided not to provide counseling on all alternatives for pregnancy resolution.

Note: When an agency does not provide direct counseling and information related to termination, practice could include providing individuals with a comprehensive list of other community providers that offer pregnancy counseling, support, and education services.

Research Note: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that individuals receive information about all options for the pregnancy.

PA-PS 6.02

Counseling is nondirective and nonjudgmental, and helps individuals make the best decisions for their particular circumstances.

Interpretation: Although agencies that offer only Birth Options Counseling will not provide counseling on termination, they should still provide nondirective and nonjudgmental counseling regarding parenting and adoption or other transfer of custody.

PA-PS 6.03

When family members or significant others, including the birth father, are involved in counseling services, all parties have opportunities to explore their individual feelings and needs.

Interpretation: When an agency provides joint counseling, it should ensure that counseling parties together does not inhibit a full exploration of individuals’ feelings. Accordingly, it may be appropriate to offer both joint and individual counseling. When the birth father or family requests counseling and the pregnant woman is opposed, the agency should make a referral or create a separate case. When a separate case is created, confidentiality must be protected at all times.

PA-PS 6.04

Individuals have the opportunity to receive information and counseling regarding the implications of parenting that addresses:

responsibilities associated with parenting;
child care;
living arrangements;
costs associated with raising a child;
how parenting will impact the expectant parents’ goals and plans for the future;
whether family members or friends will be willing to help the expectant parents;
the role that the birth father will play; and
single parenting or the possibility of marriage.

PA-PS 6.05

Individuals have the opportunity to receive information and counseling regarding the implications of adoption or other transfer of custody that addresses:

types of available adoption and guardianship services, and the range of openness in adoption;
parents’ legal rights and the rights termination process;
financial assistance that may be available;
separation from the child, and grief and loss;
long-term implications of the decision; and
making plans for the immediate future.

PA-PS 6.06

Individuals have the opportunity to receive information and counseling regarding the implications of termination that addresses:

attitudes toward pregnancy termination, including personal religious beliefs;
emotional issues related to grief and loss, and the finality of the decision;
types of procedures available;
costs of the procedure; and
legal issues for minors (such as parental notification, parental consent, and judicial bypass), if applicable.

NA The agency provides only Birth Options Counseling.

PA-PS 6.07

Individuals are helped to carry out their decisions about the pregnancy and obtain any other needed services, directly or by referral.

Interpretation: Individuals may need prenatal care, parent education, adoption services, or termination services to carry out their decisions about the pregnancy. Other needed services can include, but are not limited to, health, educational, vocational, and housing services. Agencies that offer only Birth Options Counseling, and thus do not provide linkages to termination services, should disclose this fact to service recipients, as referenced in PA-PS 6.01.

PA-PS 6.08

To help individuals stay healthy and prevent subsequent unintended pregnancies, the agency:

provides information and education about the prevention and treatment of diseases, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases;
provides information and education about pregnancy prevention, pregnancy planning, and the spacing of children; and
links individuals to family planning services.

Interpretation: An agency that does not provide linkages to family planning services when doing so is counter to its mission should disclose this fact to service recipients.

Note: When an agency does not provide linkages to family planning services because doing so is counter to its mission, practice could include providing individuals with a comprehensive list of other community providers that offer pregnancy support and education services.

Note: See Research Note to PA-PS 7.04.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Individuals who participate in Pregnancy Support Services learn about parenthood, make informed decisions about their pregnancies, stay healthy, and pursue their educational and vocational goals.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	CUSTODY The care, control, and maintenance of a child. The court legally can award custody to an agency in abuse and neglect cases or to parents in divorce, separation, or adoption proceedings. Child welfare departments retain legal custody and control of major decisions for a child in foster care; foster parents do not have legal custody of the children for which they provide care.


	PREGNANCY OPTIONS COUNSELING Counseling services designed to help pregnant individuals make decisions about all possible options for a pregnancy including and not limited to parenting, adoption or other transfer of custody, and termination. See also BIRTH OPTIONS COUNSELING.


	BIRTH OPTIONS COUNSELING Counseling services designed to help pregnant individuals make decisions about options for birth, including and not limited to parenting and adoption or other transfer of custody. Organizations providing Birth Options Counseling do not provide information and counseling about pregnancy termination. See also PREGNANCY OPTIONS COUNSELING.


	CRITERIA Systematically developed, objective, and quantifiable statements used to assess the appropriateness of specific decisions, services, and outcomes.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	TERMINATION See CASE CLOSING


	CONFIDENTIALITY An ethical and practice principle that requires the protection of information shared within a professional-client relationship. An organization that upholds confidentiality prohibits personnel from disclosing information about persons served without their written consent.


	PREVENTION Actions taken to minimize and/or eliminate social, psychological, or other conditions. Prevention can occur at the individual, group, community, and societal levels and enhances opportunities to achieve positive fulfillment.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.