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Journal Article
As the male prison population increases, so too does the number of children with fathers in prison. The negative impact of fatherlessness on children has been well documented. While parenting education is often seen as an effective tool to improve the quality of family relationships and foster positive outcomes for children, fathers in prison frequently are ignored or excluded from parenting programs. This mixed method study examined the impact of short term parenting education on fathers in prison who were enrolled in a 3-day parenting class. A simple experimental design was coupled with…
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Journal Article
Involving caregivers in their children's services often is assumed to make the delivery of child-focused services more effective. We examined the relation of caregiver involvement in children's early intervention programs (EIPs) with caregiver-child interaction. Participants were 99 low-income single caregivers whose children ( 40 months old) were enrolled in EIPs that provided opportunities for caregiver involvement. The results confirmed that caregivers who were more engaged with the programs (as rated by program staff) were more likely to demonstrate more responsiveness in interactions…
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Journal Article
This article reviews a protocol on locating and involving absent fathers in child protective proceedings under Michigan law. It explains how to distinguish legal, equitable, and putative fathers under the law, steps for Family Independence Agency caseworkers to take to establish legal fatherhood, and putative father hearings in child protective proceedings. The application of the presumption of legitimacy to child protective proceedings under Michigan law is explored, and key State court cases are cited. 67 references.
This chapter describes the theoretical foundations of the Positive Paternal Emotional Responsiveness (PPER) subscale of the Fatherhood Scale, which was designed to assess the childhood paternal bonds of adults. The PPER contains 13 questions that focus on the role of the father in the development of a healthy perception of self. Clients are asked to rate their experience with their father as a caring person and the frequency of paternal expressions of praise and love. The results can be used to identify areas for further exploration in therapy, such as strengths in the relationship between…
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Training Materials
This workbook presents curriculum guidelines for Batterer Intervention Programs (BIPs) working with fathers who have been violent. The materials address men in their roles as fathers or father figures to children, and are designed to increase men's awareness of the effects on children of domestic violence, motivation to stop abusive behavior, capacity for healing and having constructive relationships with their children, and support of their partner's parenting. The curriculum guidelines center around three included parenting exercises that are meant to be implemented over a four-to-six…
The Department of Health and Human Services Peer Technical Assistance Network sponsored a roundtable discussion to share ideas about programs to strengthen families who are separated by parental incarceration. Government officials, service providers, and practitioners from Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma reviewed trends in incarceration and discussed solutions to common challenges. Prisoner re-entry, recidivism, and the impact of incarceration on children and parents specifically were discussed. Attendees noted the need to focus on nurturing stability in dysfunctional…
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the number of parents in prison increased significantly during the 1990s. Parental incarceration and the disruption of family relationships have several negative effects on children, including poverty, poor academic performance, aggression, depression, delinquency, and substance abuse. However, parenting programs can help mothers and fathers in prison to strengthen attachments to their children and protect them from risk behaviors. Effective family dynamics also can reduce recidivism for parents after their release from prison. The Welfare Peer…
This report explores the importance of interpersonal relationships in the development of a child. It begins by discussing the benefits of a secure mother and child relationship, peer relationships, relationships with caregivers in day care, teacher student relationships, and relationships with other caring adults. Unfounded scientific assertions about the influence of relationships on children are identified, and the gap between scientific findings and policy is examined. Implications for the development of policy that promote the well-being of children are discussed, and include: the…
We use data from the Fragile Families Study (N = 3317) to document the number of changes in maternal romantic partnerships experienced by children between their birth and age 3, particularly children born to unmarried mothers. We also examine the association between partnership instability and parenting, child health and behavior. We find significantly high levels of partnership instability among children born to unmarried mothers. In addition, partnership instability is negatively associated with parenting, child health, and behavioral problems for children at age 3. Each partnership change…
