Brief
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…
Brief
This brief is a resource for human service professionals on child safety and risk assessments in AI/AN communities. It is informed by the work of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) with tribal child welfare professionals and by concerns in the field about the effectiveness of standard assessments in tribal communities. A majority of the tribal organizations that received ACF grants in 2011 to coordinate Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and child welfare services (9 of 14 grantees) used safety and risk assessments in their practice (Ahonen et al., 2016).…
Brief
This brief explains the importance of ensuring there is a match between an intervention for children and families and the local context and proposes a set of core elements that can be used to define contextual fit and guide practice, policy, and research. Eight elements are described and include: the extent to which an intervention meets an identified need for a particular target population; the extent to which the core features of an intervention are well defined; demonstrated effectiveness of the intervention for the target population and the outcomes of interest; the practicality of the…
Brief
This brief provides an overview of the religious and cultural practices in the Orthodox Jewish Community and examines some of the challenges facing Orthodox Jewish families. It then discusses how to make relationship education programs appropriate to the cultural sensitivities of young Jewish adults and families and provides recommendations to safety-net service providers working with these families.
Brief
This brief provides an overview of the history of Muslims in the United States and discusses cultural nuances to keep in mind when working with Muslim families. Drawing from experts in the field, it provides culturally appropriate tips for integration of healthy communication, conflict resolution, and parenting skills into existing service delivery models.
Brief
This brief reviews current literature regarding same-sex couples and LGB individuals to better understand their needs, strengths, and challenges; how they differ from and are similar to heterosexual couples; existing efforts to provide same-sex focused relationship education; and suggestions for expanding and providing culturally competent same-sex relationship and marriage education.
Brief
To better understand what HMRE and RF programs are doing to reach and serve Hispanic families, the authors conducted an extensive review of federally- and non-federally-funded programs serving Hispanic couples and fathers. Based on this review, they developed a program guide summarizing multiple aspects of HMRE and RF programs that target and serve Hispanic populations, including location of the program, target population, and a range of implementation and evaluation factors. This guide is accompanied by detailed profiles for each program listed in the guide, and can be used to easily and…
