This paper examines the needs of adolescent mothers and their infants and describes innovative programs designed to meet those needs. It discusses characteristics of adolescent mothers, including their educational level, their obstetric performance, their parenting practices, and the socioeconomic consequences of early parenthood. The paper then describes the developmental outcomes of the children of adolescent mothers, including their academic achievement, the quality of their home environments, their intellectual development, the incidence of child abuse and neglect, and their behavioral and emotional development. The paper points out that the socioeconomic consequences of early parenthood are primary contributors to these outcomes, not adolescent parenthood per se, and that positive social support for the adolescent mother and her infants may serve as a safeguard against the negative effects of the stresses of parenting for teenagers. The paper further describes intervention programs for adolescents to prevent pregnancy, programs for pregnant adolescents, and programs for adolescent mothers. The paper highlights difficulties in attaining funding and evaluating program effectiveness and describes recent information on fathers of children born to adolescent mothers and programs targeting their needs. (Contains 69 references.) (KDFB)