This resource provides many links to selected articles, programs, and resources that focus on engaging and supporting Native fathers.
Home visits provide a unique opportunity to assess parents’ child-rearing skills and to provide targeted services to assist responsible adults in growing healthy families. If you are a home visitor, you are probably already aware of some of the barriers that you must confront when attempting to achieve these goals. Often one of those barriers is the reluctance of fathers and men in families to recognize the importance of their participation in home visits. This tends to be true across a wide range of cultures, income levels, and educational backgrounds. In order to engage fathers and men…
During the last five years we have had the privilege of partnering with selected Parents as Teachers (PAT) sites through the Office of Family Assistance Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Grant to enhance father involvement. We learned many lessons as partner sites provided group meetings in urban, rural, and military communities that spanned a range of demographics. Our PAT sites experienced a wide array of successes and challenges, sometimes unique to their community. These experiences provide the foundation for this summary of lessons learned.
This fact sheet explains South Dakota allows childhood immunization exemptions based on religious belief, but is only one of 31 that do not allow philosophical exemptions. Minimum immunization requirements for entering school or an early childhood program in South Dakota are then reviewed, and research on the effectiveness of vaccinations is shared. Charts are included that illustrate South Dakota and the nation had a 93% rate of polio immunization in 2012, South Dakota trails the surrounding States in any vaccination, and that South Dakota and Wyoming are tied for the lowest percentage of…
For many years, immigrants have come to the United States for economic opportunities, religious and political freedom, and to make better lives for themselves and their families. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division reported that the United States has the largest number of international migrants of any country in the world. This Fact Sheet describes some of what is known about legal U.S. immigrants, including demographic information, marriage and divorce trends, and unique challenges immigrant couples face in maintaining their relationships. (…
This Fact Sheet highlights statistics on marriage, divorce and non-marital childbearing in Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea (a.k.a., South Korea) -- a collection of countries representing some of the breadth of Asia. There are six major Asian groups and they include Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Asian Indian, and Cambodian/Hmong/Laotian. There are over 30 different countries and a variety of languages lending to the diversity of the Asian population. There is very little data on marriage and divorce in Eastern countries, however more data is to come given the…
It may seem a difficult task to engage men in marriage and relationship education (MRE) classes. While women may be more willing to talk freely about their relationships in any setting, men may need a little more coaxing. In couple-based services, there are ways to facilitate an open discussion that will help men reveal their thoughts and even their feelings toward children, relationships and marriage. This Tip Sheet provides a few helpful suggestions to engage men in discussions and activities in MRE classes. (Author abstract modified)
Part of a series of fact sheets that discuss how and why the child support program provides innovative services to families across six interrelated areas to assure that parents have the tools and resources they need to support their children and be positively involved in raising them, this fact sheet focuses on family-centered innovations to improve child support outcomes. The need for family-centered child support services is explained, child support program accomplishments are shared, and the evolving child support program policy agenda is described. The collaboration of the child…
This fact sheet focuses on children in poverty in South Dakota. It begins by explaining federal poverty thresholds for 2014, poverty guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, South Dakota benefits that use poverty guidelines, and the Supplemental Poverty Measure. It concludes that poverty thresholds vary by family size and number of children, but not geographically, while guidelines vary by family size and geographically. The use of the Supplemental Poverty Measure to extend the Official Poverty Measure is discussed and key differences between poverty thresholds…
This fact sheet highlights the establishment of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), an evidence-based, cost effective approach to treating juvenile offenders. It begins by explaining the development of the juvenile justice system in the United States and then describes the JDAI and its key strategies. Data is shared that indicates when Minnehaha and Pennington counties implemented JDAI there was a decrease in juvenile detention numbers. The disproportionate number of incarcerated youth of color is noted and statistics are reported that indicate minority youths, primarily…
