This background briefing report prepared for the the first Family Impact Seminar provides an introduction to the fatherhood movement and describes innovative programs that are being used to promote responsible parenting by fathers. Responsibility is defined as avoiding pregnancy in nonmarried couples and supporting children emotionally and financially. Examples of effective sex education programs, community awareness campaigns, child support enforcement, employment and training programs, and family support services are highlighted. Lessons learned from father involvement initiatives are…
This book describes innovative community-based programs designed to reach out to fathers and strengthen families. Each program addresses a different aspect of promoting responsible fatherhood, including preventing irresponsible pregnancy; preparing for the responsibilities of fatherhood; establishing paternity at childbirth; involving fathers, regardless of marital status, in the emotional and financial support of their child; and supporting fathers in their role. The handbook presents a new paradigm of fatherhood that stresses the importance of the father-child relationship; shared…
This report from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is in response to a memorandum from President Clinton that introduced a Federal initiative to strengthen the role of fathers in their families. Current DHHS strategies are described, as well as the results of a review process specified in President Clinton's memorandum. Programs, research and demonstration activities, and DHHS work group activities are summarized. DHHS proposes several strategies in response to the President's initiative, including establishment of a departmental work group to coordinate activities related to…
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Journal Article The CARRI Program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's Community Mental Health Center in Piscataway developed a home-based family therapy program for adolescent parents that included their extended families. Participation of extended families is important especially for cultural groups such as African-Americans, who have strong intergenerational bonds. This article provides an overview of cultural and systemic issues in African American families and their experience with teen pregnancy. Multigenerational incidence of teen pregnancy and single parenthood,…
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Journal Article This article describes effective family support intervention programs designed for adolescent parents. The social support programs are offered through child care centers used by adolescents as they continue their education or vocational training. Benefits of social support services include improved knowledge about parenting, enhanced relationships between parent and child; and increased economic self-sufficiency for the young family. Three types of program models are explained in the article: community-based programs (health services, supplemental parent education); comprehensive programs (…
Written to welcome young dads into school and hospital programs or as a gift to encourage young fathers, this guide comes with a soft cover so it can be rolled up and put into a young dad's pocket. Thoughts of a young dad, getting along with the baby's mother and family, establishing paternity, plans for career and education, understanding pregnancy and birth, the importance of fathers, and caring for a crying baby are among the many topics. It also has an extensive resource section. Written for young dads-to-be between the ages of 13 and 25, this book is an easy and fast read. (Author…
Bestselling author Steve Farrar has good news for the average man: it doesn't matter if you've had a great start in the Christian life, or a rough one. It doesn't matter if you've stumbled time and again, or even fallen flat on your face. What matters most in this all-important race of life is how you finish. According to Farrar, the man who hangs in there for the long haul with his wife, his kids, and his Lord is an exception these days. Finishing Strong, now in trade paperback, offers lively use of Scripture, contemporary illustrations, and study questions to equip every reader to be that…
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Journal Article The authors examined the relationship between parental attitudes toward and perceptions of father involvement in families according to the degree of paternal participation in child rearing. Subjects consisted of 8 families drawn from a sample of 100 families participating in a longitudinal study of parental involvement. Focus-group interviews were used to collect data regarding high-father-involvement fathers, high-father-involvement mothers, low-father-involvement fathers, and low-father-involvement mothers. Results indicated that different processes may influence men's participation in…
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Journal Article This article examines how the temporal structure of employment schedules influences paternal responsibility for child care. Data on 1,452 families from the National Child Care Survey 1990 show mixed support for the demand/response capacity hypothesis, which states that paternal participation in child care is a function of demands placed on fathers as well as their capacity to respond to these demands. The present study finds that multiple dimensions of the mother's employment schedule exert pressures on the likelihood of a father taking care of his youngest child when the mother is not…
Debate in infant adoption continues to center around the mother, child and prospective adoptive parents. No one mentions the birth father. The assumption remains that the birth father is missing or uncaring in his responsibility. Seventeen birth fathers agreed to be interviewed to share their personal experiences surrounding an unexpected pregnancy. The birth fathers recollect their feelings, emotions, and circumstances surrounding the decision to relinquish their rights. Birth fathers were caught in a cycle of abandonment.
