Brief
Programs designed specifically to support fathers in their role as parents are relatively new to the policy landscape. Originally emerging as an outgrowth of welfare reform and stronger child support enforcement in the 1990s, fatherhood programs ahve since evolved from a narrow focus on financial stability and support to a more balanced agenda that emphasizes healthy relationships, parenting skills, and father involvement. Accompanying these changes has been a growing interest among researchers in studying the role that fathers play in the lives of their children. In this brief, we…
Brief
This resource provides an overview of the Colorado Parent Employment Program (CO-PEP). CO-PEP focuses on helping noncustodial parents overcome barriers to employment in order to increase child support payments. An assessment of the program is underway.
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Low-skilled men, especially minorities, typically work at low levels and provide little support for their children. Conservatives blame this on government willingness to support families, which frees the fathers from responsibility, while liberals say that men are denied work by racial bias or the economy--either a lack of jobs or low wages, which depress the incentive to work. The evidence for all these theories is weak. Thus, changing program benefits or incentives is unlikely to solve the men's work problem. More promising is the idea of linking assistance with administrative requirements…
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To better understand the challenges federal grantees face in sustaining their programs, and to learn from the successful efforts of former grantees, the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) launched a sustainability study. OAH’s sustainability study examines whether—and in what form—programs first funded in 2010 to support expectant and parenting youth and families have continued operating beyond the federal grant, and the types of strategies and resources they found useful in attempting to sustain their programs. This brief presents the first set of findings from the sustainability study. It…
This fact sheet explores results of the 2009/2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN) and compares and contrasts the Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s six outcomes for South Dakota and the nation. It begins with background information on the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Maternal and Child Health Services Black Grant, and the six core outcomes that describe what families should expect for the service system. The six care areas are: partnering with families in shared decision-making for child’s optimal health; coordinated, ongoing, comprehensive care…
This fact sheet profiles the Parents as Teachers program, an evidence-based home visiting approach that builds strong families and promotes positive parent-child interaction so children are healthy, safe, and ready to learn. Findings from a 2004 study on the benefits and costs of prevention and early intervention programs are shared and indicate Parents as Teachers had the largest benefit per dollar of cost ($1.23) of all reviewed pre-kindergarten education programs for children up to age 3. Goals of the Parent as Teachers program are explained and include: enhance parent knowledge of child…
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This brief provides a summary of research findings on the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program, a parent involvement, school readiness program that helps low literacy parents prepare their three- to five-year-old children for success in school and life. HIPPY programs provide a 30-week direct instruction program to at-risk parents focusing on language development, problem solving, perceptual discrimination, and other pre-academic skills. It is free to parents and delivered by home visitors who live in the same high need neighborhoods as the families they serve…
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This issue brief explains that the economic health and social well-being of the United States are significantly enhanced when parents have the tools they need to help their children start school prepared to learn, develop thesocial skills necessary to pay attention and work in teams, and grow up to be productive adults. It explores the physical development of the infant brain and the impact of stimulus, and the benefits of parent education programs. Findings from studies on the effectiveness of parenting programs are shared, and 10 parenting programs that are strong enough to have a possible…
Brief
Getting a good education and doing well in school are widely regarded as critical preparation for most types of success in life. However, academic achievement depends on more than what takes place within school walls. Research generally indicates that characteristics outside the formal educational setting--or non-school factors--also have a lot to do with whether children and adolescents are successful in school. Therefore, it seems important to examine not only how schools can be improved but also how non-school factors can be enhanced to foster learning and educational attainment. This…
Designed for marriage practitioners, this brief explains the importance of trust in relationships and offers strategies for teaching the value of trust to couples. The keys to trust are explained and include investing time in each other, reliability, understanding, sacrifice, and thankfulness.
