Nebraska State Bar Foundation

The Bar Foundation thanks the Woods Charitable Fund of Lincoln for a grant to update the Teen Parents and the Law (TPAL) curriculum with Nebraska-specific information. The updates are now accessible to TPAL teachers in the password-protected TPAL Educator Area below.

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Teen Parents and the Law (TPAL) is a curriculum developed by Street Law, Inc. of Silver Spring, Maryland. Street Law began in 1972 when law students at Georgetown University decided to bring law out of the courtrooms and into the underserved public school classrooms of Washington, D.C.

In 2004, the Bar Foundation and its State Center for Law-Related Education brought the TPAL program to Nebraska. Now, more than 90 Nebraska school teachers, counselors, social workers, corrections educators, and community-based program coordinators are trained to themselves become TPAL trainers. Currently, the TPAL program is being implemented at these sites:

• Ainsworth Community Schools
• CEDARS Youth Serivces, Lincoln
• Gering Public Schools
• Lincoln Public Schools
• Nebraska Correctional Center for Women, York
• Omaha Public Schools
• Plattsmouth Public Schools
• University of Nebraska - Cooperative Extension, North Platte
• Work Ethic Camp, McCook

Goals of TPAL are

• To strengthen families;
• To lower the incidence of child abuse in the home by empowering teen parents with knowledge about the law;
• To break the cycle of violence with this generation of parents;
• To make better citizens and parents of those who are already teen parents; and
• To decrease the percentage of teen parents among the next generation through the ability to make better informed decision and to solve problems.

Much of the success of this law-related education program depends on the involvement of “pro-social” adults or role models. In each community where the TPAL program is implemented, the Bar Foundation has recruited lawyers, judges, police officers and other professionals to be “Pals” for TPAL classes. Through grant monies received from Youth for Justice, a division of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the Bar Foundation is focusing on expanding the TPAL program, especially to rural areas and to minorities. If you are interested in beginning a TPAL program in your community or would simply like more information, please contact Doris, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Cindy, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .