On May 16, 2002, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4737, the Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2002, which, among other things, amends the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to encourage states to make more efforts to promote marriage and, to a lesser extent, responsible fatherhood. The bill also earmarks substantial funds -- $1.6 billion -- focused almost exclusively for the promotion and support of marriage. In this paper, we describe and analyze the various family formation provisions in H.R. 4737 and offer recommendations for how the…
This paper provides an overview of family matters during incarceration as one means of informing public debate and actions in this emerging area of social policy and practice. The problems that families face when a parent is incarcerated and the strategies they use to manage those problems are described. The relevance of the maintenance of prisoners' family and parental relationships to societal and family goals are discussed and the ways in which social policies and administrative practices hinder or support family maintenance are examined. (Author abstract)
Over the past several decades, increasing numbers of U.S. children have been growing up fatherless. Recent research indicates several obstacles that stand in the way of these fathers providing a supportive and nurturing environment for their children. This document reports on the findings of focus groups of low-income fathers in Austin, Columbus, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia where some of these obstacles were identified. (Author abstract)
This second Common Ground report grew out of a series of meetings that explored the economic issues around child support in greater depth: policies that would give more child support payments to children, rather than use them to reimburse public assistance and Medicaid costs; set child support awards in a fair and realistic way; modify awards to reflect changing circumstances; manage arrears; and increase family income. The diverse and public policy advocates, practitioners, and re-searchers who participated in the meetings are listed in the Appendix. (Author abstract).
This report summarizes the findings of a study of father involvement in Early Head Start Programs, conducted as part of the national Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Officials from 261 Early Head Start programs completed an Internet-based survey about the characteristics of fathers, strategies for involving fathers, goals for father involvement, level of father involvement, characteristics of staff, and barriers to involving fathers. Respondents reported that an average of 44.6 percent of children served have a resident father and 24.9 percent have an involved nonresident…
This report contends that father absence matters. While the poverty rate for two-parent families is 8.4%, it is 31.3% in divorced families and 64.1% where parents never married. Children raised without fathers perform more poorly in school, develop emotional problems, engage in risky behavior, and experience more violence. Children raised with fathers have higher self-esteem, learn better, and are less likely to be depressed. Some 23 million children live in homes without fathers. This report, tracing the history, accomplishments, and current needs of the fatherhood field, is addressed to…
Data was used from the 1997 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities to investigate risk factors that are present in the lives of incarcerated parents and their children, and how these differentially relate to children's living arrangements. The final sample for the study included 6,870 fathers and 2,047 mothers who were incarcerated in State or Federal prison in 1997. Results indicate children are increasingly likely to be placed with someone other than a parent, and are particularly likely to be placed in foster or agency care, as the number of risk factors rises. The…
