Youth and young adults with a history of out-of-home care are at the center of a constellation of factors associated with young parenthood, including experiences of maltreatment, caregiver and school instability, poor access to preventive health care, and high rates of mental health problems. Although correlates of early parenthood among this population have been examined, few studies have examined factors at entry to care or included males when examining young parenthood. This study explores early predictors of parenthood among a sample of young adults (N = 206), ages 18 to 22, who were enrolled in the Fostering Healthy Futures study between the ages of 9–11 following recent removal from their homes. At baseline, youth and their caregivers were interviewed and child welfare records were coded, providing data on child welfare and family factors, children’s school functioning, mental health, relationships, attitudes and appraisals. These indices were examined to determine whether they were related to parenthood status at the young adult interview. A family risk variable that included indicators for single parenthood, maternal substance use, criminal activity and violence was the strongest predictor, but moral-legal maltreatment (i.e., exposing children to illegal activities), school and living instability, and self-worth were also significant predictors over and above the demographic control variables. The discussion critically considers the findings and potential consequences of the results for young people in care with input from consultation sessions with an advisory group of parents possessing a collective wealth of relevant experience, including young parenthood and out-of-home care placement. Implications for child welfare intervention are discussed.

有家庭外护理史的青年和年轻人是与年轻父母相关的一系列因素的中心，包括虐待经历、照顾者和学校不稳定、难以获得预防性医疗保健以及高精神疾病发生率健康问题。尽管已经检查了这一人群中早期父母身份的相关性，但很少有研究检查进入护理的因素或在检查年轻父母身份时包括男性。本研究探讨了年轻成人样本中父母身份的早期预测因素（N = 206)，年龄在 18 到 22 岁之间，他们在最近从家中搬走后，在 9 到 11 岁之间参加了培养健康未来研究。在基线时，对青少年及其照顾者进行了采访，并对儿童福利记录进行了编码，提供了有关儿童福利和家庭因素、儿童学校运作、心理健康、人际关系、态度和评估的数据。检查这些指数以确定它们是否与年轻成人访谈中的父母身份有关。包括单亲、母亲药物使用、犯罪活动和暴力等指标在内的家庭风险变量是最强的预测因子，但道德-法律虐待（即让儿童从事非法活动）、学校和生活不稳定，和自我价值也是人口控制变量之外的重要预测因素。讨论批判性地考虑了结果和结果对接受护理的年轻人的潜在影响，并与一个拥有丰富相关经验的父母咨询小组的咨询会议提供了意见，包括年轻的父母身份和户外护理安置。讨论了对儿童福利干预的影响。