Project Redirection was a demonstration program of services for low-income teenage mothers and pregnant teenagers. The major purpose of the demonstration was to assess the feasibility and impacts of a comprehensive service program that attempted to “redirect” the lives of young women whose early parenthood placed them at high risk of welfare dependency and poverty. Project Redirection sought to promote eventual economic self-sufficiency among these young women.

The original Project Redirection demonstration was put into operation in Boston, Massachusetts; New York City (Harlem), New York; Phoenix, Arizona; and Riverside, California. The program, which was implemented in community-based organizations in these four sites, began enrolling participants in mid-1980. The original demonstration was concluded in 1983. The demonstration was expanded to include seven new replication sites in 1983. This document focuses on program impacts during the initial demonstration.