Brief
This research brief shares findings from an evaluation of the Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Reentering Fathers and Their Partners (MFS-IP), a program that funded services to support families in which one parent was incarcerated or recently released. The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) within the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provided up to $500,000 per year for five years to twelve grantees. OFA's family strengthening initiative required grantees to work with both…
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Journal Article Prior research indicates that assuming family roles, such as parent or spouse, can aid in the transition from prison to the community and has been linked to positive outcomes after a period of confinement. Using data from a longitudinal study of men returning to the community after incarceration, this study examines how the relationship between fathers and their children immediately after release may impact aspects of fathers' lives that are important to a successful reentry transition in the first year, such as employment, abstinence from substance abuse, and mental health. Analyses show…
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Journal Article The movement towards family focused justice emphasizes families, especially parents, as a critical component of juvenile offender rehabilitation, especially probation. However, there is a dearth of research on how probation officers involve the parents of juvenile offenders. This qualitative investigation attempts to fill that gap by exploring probation officers' practices with parents. Using a grounded theory approach, a conceptual model of the ideal parent of juvenile justice involved youth was developed. Probation officers explained that the ideal parent was able to support their child,…
Brief
This brief contributes to our knowledge of the challenges faced by children with incarcerated fathers by examining the effect of paternal incarceration on child homelessness. Specifically, it explores three mechanisms by which father incarceration may lead to child homelessness, including weakening family finances, limiting children's access to institutional and informal supports, and reducing mothers' capacities and capabilities. It also examines the extent to which this relationship is concentrated among black children and tests concerns of spuriousness, the possibility that both…
