This federally funded guide shares what is known about promising practices in healthy marriage and relationship (HMR) programs, especially those serving low-income and culturally diverse populations. It is intended to be helpful to a variety of audiences, including those who are interested in starting a new program, those already involved in running a program, and those who are evaluating or funding such programs. An introduction provides background information on the healthy marriage movement, challenges common to providing HMR services, and funding of HMR services. Chapter 2 provides…
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Journal Article Few programs to enhance fathers' engagement with children have been systematically evaluated, especially for low-income minority populations. In this study, 289 couples from primarily low-income Mexican American and European American families were randomly assigned to one of three conditions and followed for 18 months: 16-week groups for fathers, 16-week groups for couples, or a 1-time informational meeting. Compared with families in the low-dose comparison condition, intervention families showed positive effects on fathers' engagement with their children, couple relationship quality, and…
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Journal Article Following divorce or separation, father-child contact is deemed an important influence on child development. Previous research has explored the impact of sociodemographic and attitudinal factors on the amount of contact between fathers and their children following a union dissolution. This article revisits this important question using fathers' reports on a sample of 859 children from newly available survey data. Multilevel random intercept models are used to reassess the influence of child- and father-level factors on the amount of reported contact. Results show that the amount of father-…
Noncustodial fathers have an essential role to play--both financially and emotionally--in the lives of their children. However, of the 11 million noncustodial fathers in the US, two thirds do not pay any formal child support. Many of these fathers are poor themselves and face multiple barriers, including low education levels, limited work experience, and criminal records, which impede their success in the labor market as well as their ability to provide for their children.Working Dads: Final Report on the Fathers at Work Initiative presents findings from P/PV's evaluation of Fathers at…
This report discusses the difficulties faced by low-income parents following the break-up of a marriage, the establishment of the federal Access and Visitation program in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) legislation to address visitation issues following a divorce, and recommended reforms to the program. Suggested reforms include increasing available funding, dedicating funding to legal services providers, targeting resources, increasing community-based institution involvement. Information is provided on the millions of children living with a single parent, the benefits of…
To explore the similarities and contrasts between poor and non-poor families, Child Trends analyzed data for more than 100,000 families from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health. Our results suggest that, although poor families experience socioeconomic disadvantages, these families may be enriched by the strengths found in their family routines and relationships. Specifically, we found that poor families are at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving services and benefits and are more likely to express concerns about their neighborhoods. On the other hand, we found that poor…
Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N=7,686) are used to determine whether racial and ethnic differences in socioeconomic stress and social protection explain group differences in the association between family structure instability and three outcomes for white, black, and Mexican-American adolescents: delinquent behavior, age at first sex, and age at first nonmarital birth. Findings indicate that the positive association between mothers' union transitions and each outcome for white adolescents is attenuated by social protection. The association of instability with…
Adolescents who experience repeated change in family structure as parents begin and end romantic unions are more likely than adolescents in stable family structures to engage in aggressive, antisocial, or delinquent behavior. This paper examines whether the link between family structure instability and behavior in adolescence may be explained, in part, by the residential and school mobility that are often associated with family structure change. Nationally-representative data from a two-generation study are used to assess the relative effects of instability and mobility on the mother-reported…
