In schools all across the country, every day, young men and boys build relationships based on their notion of what it means to be a “real” man. They make choices that can put others and themselves at risk and contribute to a variety of devastating public health problems, such as teen dating violence, unplanned teen parenthood, and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection. In response, schools and communities across the country are implementing programs that reach out to young men as leaders and allies and that invite them to take up the challenge of ending men’s violence…
This analysis, based on data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, examines new parents attitudes towards child support enforcement and fathers' rights and obligations. Additionally, it looks at whether couples agree or disagree on these issues, and whether their disagreements are likely to lead to conflict with possible negative repercussions for their children. (Author abstract modified)
This paper discusses the importance of father involvement in the lives of children, describes the increased focus on creating programs to promote father involvement, and highlights Wisconsin's noncustodial parent (NCP) policies and services as the State moves into the next phase of welfare reform. The first half of the paper describes the current landscape of NCP reform, including the barriers to meeting NCPs' needs effectively and the perspectives of those affected by the State's NCP policies. The second half of the paper presents challenges facing the State and opportunities for Wisconsin…
This paper draws on data gleaned from in-depth, repeated inter-views with approximately 200 low-income noncustodial fathers in two U.S. cities. It focuses on two social problems that have seldom been brought together in the same analysis: father involvement (both economic and relational), and the impact of men's involvement with the criminal justice system. In the sample, roughly one-third of respondents report being incarcerated at least once during their life course. The authors looked in detail at what these respondents had to say about how their involvement with the criminal justice…
navy dot icon
Training Materials Current child welfare programs are targeted toward the mother and child and do not place priority on services to support father-child relationships. This curriculum was developed by the National Family Preservation Network to instruct child welfare policymakers and practitioners in the importance of fathers in the lives of their children. The goals of the training program are to promote father-friendly policies that strengthen families and provide additional resources for child placement, when necessary. Administrators will learn to evaluate agency policies and modify those that prevent…
This report uses a variety of indicators to portray children's experiences while growing up. Data on child well-being were collected by interviews of households in the 1992 and 1993 SIPP panels, which were conducted at the same time in the fall of 1994. The topics covered in this report illustrate what children experience on a daily basis, including differences in family living arrangements, economicand social environments, and the types of neighborhoods where children live. Experiences with nonparental child care arrangements, daily interactions with parents, performance in school, and…
For the roughly 3.3 million low-income fathers in America who are without custody of their children, love for their offspring can be overshadowed by the guilt and anger of not being able to provide them with adequate financial support. Limited education and work experience may make finding a legitimate, living-wage job difficult, and chronic unemployment or participation in underground or illegal activities may become a way of life. A prior criminal record, substance abuse or a strained relationship with the child's mother can further contribute to the economic and emotional distress of both…
Central to effective programs addressing the complex needs of non-custodial parents is the collaboration of agencies. In particular, this workshop seeks to bring together and encourage partnership between TANF and OCSE state agencies. TANF presents States with substantial flexibility in the design of programs. The idea behind TANF is that everybody wins when families are moved from welfare to sustainable employment that provide earnings consistent with self-sufficiency. The dramatic drop in the TANF caseloads, now estimated at about one half of the families in welfare in 1996, left states…
Children benefit greatly from the unique masculine approach that men bring to parenting. We can and must become nurturing dads through the Three A's - affection, affirmation, and attention. (Author abstract, modified).
Our study investigates whether fatherhood and specifically involvement with nonresident children influence men's entrance into marital and cohabiting unions. Using the National Survey of Families and Households, our findings suggest that neither resident nor nonresident children affect men's chances of entering a new marriage but nonresident children have a positive effect on cohabitation. The positive association between nonresident children and men's union formation is not uniform; instead, we find that it is involvement with nonresident children, specifically visitation, that enhances men'…
