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Training Materials Support groups for children of substance abusing parents can alleviate risks for alcohol and drug abuse, as well as school and social problems. This packet of materials was developed to help substance abuse therapists establish treatment and education groups for the children of their clients. The developmentally appropriate program teaches children that they are not the cause of their parent's substance abuse and nurtures resilience through problem solving, safety planning, and support services. Materials include inservice guidelines, tools to engage parents and children in the program,…
Relying on new data from fathers in the Fragile Families and Child WellBeing survey (n=2,903), the author examines fathers reports of the most important perceived paternal role among six different domains: providing economic support, direct care, love and affection, protection, discipline, and teaching the child about life. Approximately half of all fathers identified providing love and affection as the most important thing that fathers do. A substantial minority said that teaching the child about life was the key activity; whereas a relatively small proportion said that economic support and…
This report includes perspectives from domestic violence advocates, batterer program representatives, and fatherhood program representatives on the scope and challenges of fatherhood programs. Participants attended two meetings held in May 2001 and July 2002, to discuss the variety of issues confronting fatherhood programs. One of the key concerns discussed was the inclusion of domestic violence information in such programs. The report shares participants' views on the prevalence of domestic violence and the characteristics of fathers attending fatherhood programs, barriers to…
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Designed for social service providers, this document reviews public policies affecting fatherhood programs and offers recommendations for programs. It begins by discussing the impact of federal public policy on fatherhood programs and the inclusion of marriage promotion in social welfare policy. The trend towards stricter enforcement of child support requirements is noted, barriers impeding collaboration between fatherhood programs and social welfare programs are explored, and strategies fatherhood programs can use to promote collaboration with child support agencies are offered. The movement…
The Bush administration has proposed several initiatives to improve child well-being by increasing marriage and father involvement. Research supports the intent of the proposal to create a stable environment for children. This report expands on previous studies to examine differences in family structures by race and age. Data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families are presented for six categories of family relationships: child's birth parents are married; child's parents are divorced, but the father visits regularly; the child's biological parents have never married, but are…
Most of the two million people in prison in the United States have children and families in the community. Although family members of prisoners face emotional and economic crises related to separation, there are few resources to support them. Community members can alleviate the loss felt by children and reduce risks associated with trauma related to parental incarceration. This guide suggests strategies for meeting the needs of these families. The approach focuses on promoting family relationships, skills, and faith. All aspects of the planning process are outlined, including collaboration,…
More than 10 million children have had a parent in prison. These children often live with their remaining parent or another family member, or in foster care. Children of incarcerated women placed in foster care are subject to the termination of parental rights requirements of the Adoption and Safe Families Act. The act specifies that termination petitions be filed when children live in foster care during 15 of the previous 22 months. However, no provisions are made for incarcerated parents who cannot attain custody during the time limit. Research has found that parental stress contributes to…
The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network held a roundtable in November 2003 to discuss best practices for strengthening families separated by parental incarceration. Participants reviewed national trends and examined the components of state initiatives designed to reduce recidivism and alleviate the negative impact of parental incarceration on children. Emphasis was placed on improving parenting skills and nurturing parent-child relationships. This final report summarizes the challenges identified by programs, such as the lack of family stability, limited parenting skills, child support…
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Journal Article Recent statistics reveal that children living apart from their fathers are at an increased risk of suffering negative outcomes. One study found that the rate of child abuse in single-parent families is nearly twice the rate of child abuse in two-parent households (Federal Interagency Forum, 1997). Another study, after controlling for various variables, revealed that boys who grew up outside of intact marriages were, on average, more than twice as likely as other boysto end up in jail (Harper and McLanahan, 1998).These findings have sparked increased interest in the critical role of fathers…
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As the Bush Administration's "compassionate conservatism" agenda evolves simultaneous to debate on key legislation impacting families, there has been widespread debate and promotion of the Healthy Marriage Initiative. Marriage promotion initiatives and commissions on marriage are forming across the country as legislation such as the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Act, Child Support Enforcement Act, the Refugee Resettlement Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization emerge with potential healthy marriage provisions and funding. There is no question…
