Brief
This resource discusses the difference between "deadbeat" and "dead broke" fathers. The overview provides insight on how practitioners can encourage low-income fathers and how to show fathers that their presence in their children's lives is important and essential.
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Journal Article Teen dating violence (TDV) is a preventable public health problem that has negative consequences for youth. Despite evidence that youth in urban communities with high crime and economic disadvantage may be at particularly high risk for TDV, little work has specifically addressed TDV in these communities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a comprehensive approach to prevent TDV--Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships--that addresses gaps in research and practice. This report from CDC describes the programmatic activities,…
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Journal Article This article examines what we know about how low-income fathers matter for children. The authors first provide a theoretical background about how parents generally (and fathers more specifically) are expected to influence children's development and well-being. The authors note the importance of considering differences across children's age, gender, and race/ethnicity; and they identify key methodological challenges in this area. Then, they summarize the literature on residential fathers and child well-being, finding that greater involvement has been linked to better outcomes for children;…
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Journal Article In a prospective, longitudinal investigation we examined fathers' engagement in learning activities with their children in early childhood in relation to children academic performance in 5th grade. Participants were 602 low-income, ethnically diverse biological fathers and their children from the National Early Head Start evaluation study. Fathers reported on their engagement with children in learning activities as well as their residency when children were two years, three years, and of preschool age; children were assessed on receptive language, reading and math skills in 5th grade.…
The Parents as Teachers Promoting Responsible Fatherhood project was designed to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of an adaptation of the Parents as Teachers model with low-income fathers as the primary target population. The project goal is to increase father involvement in Parents as Teachers services. Fathers who live with their children (residential fathers) who meet the income criteria (under 200% federal poverty level) were recruited toparticipate in a 12-week group meeting cycle lasting 3 months. During these 3 months, fathers also participated in home visits by Parents…
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This PowerPoint presentation describes lessons learned from past efforts to provide work-oriented programs for low-income parents behind in their child support payments. The presentation describes a New York state pilot program that substantially increased the earnings and child support payments of disadvantaged parents not meeting their child support obligations. The presentation was given at "The Child Support Connection: Giving Children a Brighter Future" conference hosted by the New York City Office of Child Support Enforcement on October 20, 2011 at the City University of New York…
Family and child well-being is vital to the health of America's neighborhoods and communities. Recognizing this fact when reauthorizing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in 2005, Congress appropriated $150 million to support demonstration programs in the areas of healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood. Managed by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF), these initiatives were designed to have a broad reach, including marriage and relationship education services for married and engaged couples. Of the 116…
This paper is an endeavor to look at healthy marriage education programs funded by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) designed specifically to meet the needs of unmarried couples expecting a child or co-parenting a newborn. It looks at the unique challenges of the participants, varied program designs and service delivery strategies, as well as outcomes related to a specific group of healthy marriage grant programs. The intent is to continue the conversation around the question, "Do healthy marriage programs work?" raised and addressed in the Building Strong Families Study(Wood, McConnell,…
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Journal Article Contextual, mother-, child-, and father-level variables were examined in association with fathers' emotion talk to infants during a shared picture book activity, in an ethnically diverse, low-income sample (N = 549). Significant main effects included the rate of emotion talk from fathers' romantic partners (i.e., the infant's mother), infant attention and distress, and sensitive parenting. Significant interactions were also found. Higher income African American fathers referred to negative emotions more than non-African American higher income fathers. In addition, African American fathers who…
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Journal Article A growing body of research documents the importance of positive father involvement in children's development. However, research on fathers in Latino families is sparse, and research contextualizing the father-child relationship within a cultural framework is needed. The present study examined how fathers' cultural practices and values predicted their fifth-grade children's report of positive father involvement in a sample of 450 two-parent Mexican-origin families. Predictors included Spanish- and English-language use, Mexican and American cultural values, and positive machismo (i.e.,…
