Across the political spectrum, unwed fatherhood is denounced as one of the leading social problems of today. Doing the Best I Can is a strikingly rich, paradigm-shifting look at fatherhood among inner-city men often dismissed as “deadbeat dads.” Kathryn Edin and Timothy J. Nelson examine how couples in challenging straits come together and get pregnant so quickly—without planning. The authors chronicle the high hopes for forging lasting family bonds that pregnancy inspires, and pinpoint the fatal flaws that often lead to the relationship’s demise. They offer keen insight into a radical…
Other
This guide from the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement is intended to help Head Start staff understand more about the role that positive goal-oriented relationships play in effective parent, family, and community engagement and school readiness. It includes definitions, tools, and guides for reflective practice and supervision. (Author abstract modified)
Research suggests that early, more intense engagement in pareting for men has positive long-term effect for both father and child. While many other developed countries have paid leave for mothers and fathers, the United States is an outlier, offering no national policy on paid leave for mothers and fathers. The authors surveyed more than 1,000 fathers employed at 286 different organizations, as well as 30 companies for their benchmarking study. The report covers fathers’ attitudes about paternity and parental leave; benchmarking of company paternity leave policies; global approaches and…
Easy-to-read basics to help families toward economic stability. Includes emergency benefits, job search and readiness, and basic budgeting. Presentation slides on CD-ROM (2010) are available for purchase, allowing for easy presentation by your staff to clients.(Author abstract modified)
Este es el manual de estabilidad económica de Fortalecimiento de Familias Jóvenes, en español fácil de leer. Enseña conceptos básicos para ayudar a las familias a lograr la estabilidad económica. Incluye beneficios de emergencia, búsqueda y preparación laboral, y presupuesto básico. (Resumen del autor)
While no one can avoid all stressful situations, 2013's Stress in America survey portrays a picture of high stress and ineffective coping mechanisms that appear to be ingrained in our culture, perpetuating unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors for future generations. While the news about American stress levels is not new, what’s troubling is the stress outlook for teens in the United States. In many cases, American teens report experiences with stress that follow a similar pattern to those of adults. (Author abstract modified)
In light of the momentum building to improve the fortunes of young men of color, this review takes a look at what is known about this population and highlights programs that are shown by rigorous research to be making a difference. It first examines the special challenges and struggles of these young men in the labor market, including problems related to their disproportionate involvement in the criminal justice system and their experiences in the educational system. A growing number of young men of color have become disconnected from the positive systems, institutions, and pathways designed…
This Social Policy Report summarizes what is currently known about our nation’s military children and families and presents ideas and proposals pertinent to the formulation of new programs and the policies that would create and sustain these initiatives. We emphasize the need for future rigorous developmental research about military children and families that could more definitively inform future programs and policies. These policies and programs should build on the resilience of military children and families in order to best maintain and enhance their health and positive development. The…
Two commentaries from the report, Military and Veteran Families and Children: Policies and Programs for Health Maintenance and Positive Development, deepen the discussion about how best to support military and veteran children and families. In the first commentary, Michelle Sherman, who has spent many years working in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system, describes innovative efforts of VHA programs to partner with community organizations to better support children and families. She also calls for VHAs to expand their focus to support veterans and their families. (Author abstract…
Two commentaries from the report, Military and Veteran Families and Children: Policies and Programs for Health Maintenance and Positive Development, deepen the discussion about how best to support military and veteran children and families. In the second commentary, Rami Benbenishty and Ron Astor highlight the importance of considering the normative settings in which military children function (e.g., nonmilitary communities, schools) and building on those normative experiences to foster resiliency in military-connected children. They also urge researchers to include information about the…
