Most state child support agencies have responded to the increases in teen and nonmarital births with the traditional offer of paternity establishment and child support enforcement services after the birth of the child. The Child Support Division of the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has taken the innovative step of developing a number of educational and outreach efforts that reach youth and young adults before a pregnancy occurs.The leading example of the OAG’s efforts is the Parenting and Paternity Awareness (p.a.p.a.)Curriculum; p.a.p.a. is a school-based curriculum that sends a…
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 scan was requested by the Healthy Child Development Section of the Public Health Agency of Canada in response to anecdotal comments made at meetings and in communities which suggested that there is a growing grassroots effort across the country to create and implement strategies that support Aboriginal fathers? involvement with their children. The results of 2 months of intensive search did not suggest a landscape richly populated with Aboriginal father support programs. There are large gaps, and the distribution of programs appears to be uneven, with British Columbia, Saskatchewan and…
This report represents the results of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's effort to learn what tools local service providers need to help their clients increase their financial capabilities. Through the field scan they contacted fourteen organizations that provide financial empowerment training to their case managers and frontline staff. They learned how programs have succeeded -- or struggled -- in providing training, tools, and resources to change case manager and client behavior. They conducted in-depth interviews of five organizations that represented diverse approaches to…
According to this paper, the parenting gap is a big factor in the opportunity gap. The chances of upward social mobility are lower for children with parents struggling to do a good job -- in terms of creating a supportive and stimulating home environment. Children lucky enough to have strong parents are more likely to succeed at all the critical life stages, which means policies to help weaker parents do a better job can be investments in opportunity, and equality. Key findings indicate: 1) The quality of U.S. parenting, as measured on the HOME scale, strongly varies by income, family…
The purpose of this discussion paper is twofold: to identify progress in the use of evidence-based violence prevention programs and selected resources and to discuss the critical gap between the evidence and its translation into demonstrably effective community-based programs. In January 2013, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) convened a 2-day workshop on the evidence base for violence prevention. The IOM Forum on Global Violence Prevention assembled experts to discuss what works to prevent violence, where to find evidence, and challenges faced by practitioners, communities, and policy makers…
There's no tougher job than being a parent, or so the saying goes. This sentiment seems to be confirmed by a new Pew Research Center analysis of government time use data. Parents find caring for their children to be much more exhausting than the work they do for pay. At the same time, parents find much more meaning in the time they spend with their children than in the time they spend at work. (Author abstract)
We shouldn't underestimate the vast importance of fathers in children's lives, not only because children 'need and love their dads', but also because of the significant impact that fathers have on the social, cognitive, emotional and physical well-being of children from infancy to adolescence and with lasting influences into their adult life. This summary of evidence is based on a review of literature and research published primarily in the last 10 years. As there is a vast volume of research relating to parenting and children more generally, the review focused on evidence relating…
This guide addresses the importance of promoting healthy family and marital relationships as an effective strategy to improve interpersonal relationships and productivity in the workplace. This guide focuses on specific steps employers can take to support employees, enhance their interpersonal skills, and reduce family stress by improving coping skills. It also highlights promising practices by leading American companies that recognize the importance of investing in healthy relationships for both hourly workers and full-time staff. (Author abstract)
Until communities offer multiple pathways to connect with ladders of opportunity, many young families headed by out-of-school and out-of-work (OSOW) youth will be unable to achieve financial independence. To break the cycle of poverty, many human service organizations use two-generation approaches with "young families" (that is, families with children in which the parent is an OSOW young person ages 15-24 years). One hallmark of these two-generation approaches is the use of strategies that address the developmental needs of the young parents, their children, and the families as a whole. The…
