Mary's Path

Believing in the value of every life, Mary’s Path empowers vulnerable teen mothers in foster care, and their babies, to create lives of dignity, hope and self-sufficiency.

History: Mary’s Path was founded in 1985 to provide a safe home for pregnant and parenting teens who lacked family support. Funds were raised to acquire a house, and Mary’s Path opened in 1994 to six pregnant teens who were supported with case management. In 1998, two new homes were built at its current location, licensed for 16 teens and 12 babies at any given time. Today, Mary’s Path is nationally accredited by the Council on Accreditation and licensed as a Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) facility by the State of California. Mary’s Path provides safe housing, trauma-informed and healing-centered mental health therapy, and other supportive services for to up to 40 teen moms each year from the foster system across Southern California. More than 90% are survivors of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC).

Programs and Services: All programs and services are trauma- and evidence-informed, delivered in a supportive and nurturing environment. Mary’s Path also ensures that all programs and services are healing centered and culturally respectful of the diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds of each of its teen moms. In addition to safe housing, services include trauma-informed therapy; parenting skills coaching and child development; life skills mentoring; academic support and job readiness; access to medical/dental care; and aftercare services.

Mary’s Path also supports the babies of teens. All teen moms are assisted with ensuring regular medical check-ups for their babies. Residents are also provided on-site high quality, developmentally appropriate child care while they are in school or working. Staff may also assist with more difficult activities, such as initiating adoption processes or taking steps toward reunification for those who may have been separated from their babies.

Public contracts support roughly 80% of Mary’s Path’s operations, with the balance supported by charitable grants and individual donations.

For 40 years, Mary's Path has provided safe and stable housing, where pregnant and parenting teens from the foster care system can find healing and hope for a better future. Our doors are open to approximately 40 pregnant and parenting teen moms a year.
We provide 6,400+ hours of trauma-informed therapeutic services, including Individual Psychotherapy, Crisis Intervention, Intensive Care Coordination, and Home-Based Services.
100% of our teens consistently attended group and individual therapy sessions. 100% attend high school, with three graduating in May of 2026 and two enrolled in college this year. 100% access medical/dental resources for themselves and for their babies and attended parenting/life skills workshops.
Seven babies were born this past year - all full-term and healthy!
Our staff completed more than 1,000 hours of advanced professional development, licensure and recertification training, and clinical supervision over and above STRTP licensing requirements.

Current Goals:

100% of all teen moms will be assessed within 72 hours of admission using Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) and Youth Outcomes Questionnaire (YOQ) tools, resulting in an individual service plan. As scheduled in individual service plans, all teen moms will consistently attend individual and group therapy sessions, medical and health appointments, and parenting classes. "Consistently" is defined as attending at least 75% of scheduled sessions, appointments, meetings, classes, or workshops.
At least 80% of the teen moms exiting Mary’s Path will have planned departures and will be offered after-care services for a minimum of six months.
100% of all staff will complete required STRTP professional development requirements and any identified additional specialty training necessary to ensure each teen mom’s needs are met.

With County funding lost due to budget cuts, Mary's Path critical Aftercare Services must now be privately funded. State statistics how the devastating effect when these teens have no one to follow up with them, ensuring stable housing, medical needs being met, nutrition, and mental health. 56% will experience a second baby by age 19; 42% will lose their babies back into the system - repeating the cycle. Even when outside services help to provide essential needs, 96% of the girls stated that would have continued with mental health counseling if they had access to the same counselors they had at Mary's Path - it is just too hard for them to revisit their trauma. With one Case Manager 100% dedicated to Aftercare and direct expenses needed for successful implementation of this program. The yearly cost for Aftercare is $270,000.

Another great need facing us is more Specialty Staff training. This is due to increasing CSEC victimization, advanced training for high acuity mental health needs such as depression, Substance Use Disorder, and PTSD). Additionally, trauma-informed care training is being instituted across the organization, including residential and administrative staff, not just mental health staff. $120,000.

Child Development: Additional staff is needed to help ensure greater consistency and continuity of care for babies in on-site childcare. This Child Development Specialist provides for greater frequency of individual coaching, mentoring, and group glasses and workshops on parenting skills, child development, and strategies for facilitating achievement of developmental milestones. $225,000

Mary's Path is located in central Orange County. Annually, Mary's Path provides up to 40 teen moms from the foster system and their babies with a safe place to call home. While housing and services are provided in Orange County, teen moms are referred and placed by Social Services departments from Los Angeles, Orange, Imperial, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties.

Our hearts are full of gratitude as we celebrate the 38 teen moms and 29 babies who called Mary’s Path home this past year. Our houses were full of special baby firsts—first smiles, first teeth, first steps and words. It’s been a joy to watch the little ones grow and thrive. We also celebrated many wonderful milestones for our teen moms—three high school graduations, two college enrollments, and two first jobs.

Mary's Path is a special place, filling a unique niche in the care of teen moms from the foster care system. We remain one of only four facilities in the State that has the expertise to work with these teens and address their complex needs. Compared to teen mothers living in other circumstances, those in foster care are more likely to experience substance misuse, depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and suicidal ideation. They also face the same challenges that all foster youth face – incomplete schooling, unemployment, and homelessness.

And they are all learning to become mothers.

Mary's Path is proud to offer several new programs to its continuum of support for our teen moms. New trauma-informed services in Maternal Mental Health, Child Development, Family Finder, and Substance Use Disorder Treatment ensure more comprehensive and compassionate care for our teen moms and babies. Our equine therapy program through Otra Mas Equine Assisted Therapy in San Juan Capistrano continues to provide an added sense of security for our teenagers and we continue to offer our teens direct access to other evidence-based alternative therapies like art, poetry, yoga, cooking, and journaling.

It is thanks to supporters like all of you that we can continue to Change Lives, Two at a Time. Our work is far from over as we work to enable each teen mom to create a life of dignity, hope, and self-sufficiency for herself and her baby. Together we can accomplish our vision that these vulnerable teen moms become loving, caring mothers and raise happy, healthy children.

I am excited and honored to step into the role of Board Chair after 2 years as a general Board member. With a goal of growing our BOD, I'm looking forward to finding new members who believe wholeheartedly in the history, mission, and vision of Mary's Path. The governance of this extraordinary organization has been placed before me and I am dedicated to bringing together the Time, Talents, and Treasures of all stakeholders to advance the mission of Changing Lives, Two at a Time.
The administration and highly skilled staff at Mary’s Path continue to implement new and innovative ways to help the marginalized teens we serve. Our goal is to have greater outreach to members of our OC community, o they become aware of this incredible non-profit organization hidden in plain sight on a busy street on the border of Santa Ana & Tustin. We are committed to advocate for these girls who have been victims of CSEC (Child Sexual Exploitation of Children) and the epidemic of this crime that is on the rise in our neighborhoods. Together we are working to raise the funds needed to bridge the gap between what is provided by the foster system and what is truly needed to give these teen mothers and their babies a chance to heal from their trauma and become loving moms who are confident in their own voices and becoming contributing members of our community.
We appreciate not only the funding of Foundations and but also the loyal donors who continue to be filled with compassion and hope for our teens and their babies and remember us with a one-time donation, monthly gifts, or remember us in their planned giving. We are grateful.