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After a number of years working with a caseload of 20 families in a rural community, I began to notice a trend: the lack of fathers present in the homes during my work. I began to question what our district could do to encourage the involvement of more fathers. After pondering this question, all the while doing little to nothing about the issue, I received an e-mail from our Parents as Teachers state leader. The e-mail was sent to all Illinois programs stating that the national center was looking to partner with a local program for a fatherhood initiative project. I jumped on the chance to…
New York state implemented a pilot employment program from 2006 to 2009 for parents behind in their child support. These pilot programs, part of the Strengthening Families Through Stronger Fathers Initiative, provided employment-oriented services, fatherhood/parenting workshops, case management, and other support services to nearly 4,000 parents behind in their child support in four New York communities. Our evaluation shows that these programs successfully helped participants find work, increase their earnings, and pay more child support. These gains continued for at least a year after…
This report makes recommendations for improving the evaluation of social programs and fostering partnerships between practitioners and evaluators. It calls for the field to have clearer guidelines on how evaluation can meet the particular needs and contexts of different kinds of programs, and for individual organizations and fields of practice to have the chance to demonstrate that they will use evaluative information for program improvement if afforded the opportunity to do so. Strategies include: promote a menu of credible evaluation alternatives that can be used when an randomized…
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This report discusses conclusions from a two-day meeting of representatives of local, State, and national agencies that focused on the potential benefits and challenges of interagency collaboration between relationship education and pregnancy prevention practitioners. It summarizes key themes from the meeting and strategic actions related to relationship education and teen pregnancy prevention that were highlighted in the meeting. The recommended actions include: launch pilot projects and projects to test promising practices and assess the effectiveness of blended strategies; include youth…
This newsletter highlights four interrelated investments made by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to support community-based solutions to strengthen families and neighborhoods. The investments include: tapping the strengths of faith-based organizations; removing stumbling blocks to opportunity for people returning from incarceration and their families; providing a foundation for healthy relationships and marriages; and supporting strong and responsible fatherhood. Examples of specific initiatives in each area are described and successful practices are highlighted.
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These resources are a snapshot of web-based materials available as of May, 2011; including field-shaping research and information sites, practical tools, and programmatic guidance for the important work of responsible fatherhood. (Author abstract)
This brief on a comprehensive approach to encouraging engaged fatherhood begins by discussing the importance of fathers and reviewing the different types of father-focused programs: employment-focused, nurturing programs, and healthy marriage programs. The Seedco Fatherhood Initiative Pilot Program is then described. Launched in 2006, as part of a statewide pilot funded through the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance's Strengthening Families Through Stronger Fathers Initiative, the program draws on earlier fatherhood programs and principles of behavioral economics to…
This review provides summaries of impact, implementation, and descriptive studies that have examined responsible fatherhood and related family strengthening programs that target and serve low-income fathers. (Author abstract)
This paper is designed to deepen the conversation by identifying the key readiness factors, overall capacities, and practices of both TANF agencies and FBCOs that have led to successful partnerships in eight communities. By examining important elements of these partnerships, we hope to provide guidance to other TANF agencies and FBCOs interested in collaborating to improve outcomes for families and low-income individuals.
The Parents as Teachers Promoting Responsible Fatherhood project was designed to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of an adaptation of the Parents as Teachers model with low-income fathers as the primary target population. The project goal is to increase father involvement in Parents as Teachers services. Fathers who live with their children (residential fathers) who meet the income criteria (under 200% federal poverty level) were recruited toparticipate in a 12-week group meeting cycle lasting 3 months. During these 3 months, fathers also participated in home visits by Parents…
