The UK continues to top the league table for the highest rate of teenage births in Western Europe. Although data is collected on the mothers of these babies little is recorded on their fathers. This research seeks to help to redress that balance as it examines five projects across England which worked with young fathers from 2002-2004, affording not only those who ran the project a voice, but also the young fathers themselves.This report is an evaluation of TSA's Young Fathers Project, a two-year pilot that ended in March 2004. It was funded by the Family Support Grant, formerlyadministered…
Many school children and their families are faced with multiple health, education, and social service needs that no single agency is in a position to address alone. One intervention strategy that many schools are now beginning to use in these situations is a case management approach which emanates from the schools’ concern for children who are failing in school due to a variety of interacting school, home, and community influences. The purpose of this publication is to introduce school personnel concerned with early intervention with potential school dropouts to a promising school-based…
As part of a process of identifying attitudes and opinions, Fathers, Inc. held three focus groups of adolescents involved in a dropout prevention program to assist in understanding the attitudes of teenagers with regards to fatherhood. This report discusses findings from the focus groups and offers programmatic suggestions drawn from the findings. Focus group 1 consisted of males, ages 15-20 years, of African heritage and multiracial. Although the majority was being raised in single parent households, some were living with a mother and stepfather, and one was living with an aunt. A little…
A growing body of evidence points to the important benefits of a strong father-child relationship. Among these benefits are higher levels of school performance and increases in healthy behaviors. Children who lack a positive relationship with a father or father-figure demonstrate higher levels of teen pregnancy, increased juvenile delinquency, and lower academic achievement. This link between father-involvement and child-wellbeing elevates the importance of educating and socializing boys to become competent fathers. Therefore, in February 2005, the Minnesota Fathers & Families Network (…
Sponsored by a grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation, the goals of the one-day event were to invite professionals working in corrections and in the fatherhood field to gather to (1) identify barriers that fathers encounter as they reenter their families, neighborhoods and communities; and (2) propose organizational and community strategies that may be implemented to promote fathers' successful transition and reduce recidivism. This Final Report includes highlights of the day and recommendations for future action. (Author abstract modified)
There has been a growing national emphasis over recent years on increasingfathers' (and particularly, noncustodial fathers') involvement with theirfamilies, an emphasis that focuses on everything from financial supportto emotional nurture. However, it has become apparent that low-incomenoncustodial fathers have been affected very differently by these effortsthan have been wealthier fathers. Many of the recent legislative and policyinitiatives have been directed at augmenting noncustodial fathers' financialsupport of their children. For fathers whose children receive (or havereceived) public…
This interview study is part of a larger evaluation that P/PV is conducting of the Fathers at Work demonstration, which enrolled 1,222 men across the six sites. The full study will assess program outcomes, using surveys administered to all participants at the time of their enrollment and again 12 to 18 months later. In order to gain a more detailed understanding of the participants' lives, P/PV undertook an in-depth interview study of a sample of 37 Fathers at Work participants from three of the six sites. As the men began sharing their stories with P/PV interviewers, it became clear that,…
Millions of children, women and men in the UK today are not derivingbenefit from fathers and fatherhood. Many children grow up with absentor distant fathers; mothers raise children with little emotional, practical andfinancial support from fathers, and men report unfulfilled aspirations to playa more active role in the lives of their children. Public policy could be verymuch more effective in harnessing fatherhood for private and public good.This book sets out why and how public policy could play a more effectiverole in enabling children, women and men to get more from fatherhood.Fatherhood…
Three waves of panel data are used to examine the relationship between child support payments and fathers' contact with their nonmarital children. Cross-lagged effects models are incorporated to identify the direction of causality between these two behaviors. Controlling for the lagged term and a rich set of individual characteristics eliminates the relationship between paying formal support and whether fathers see their children, although a strong reciprocal relationship remains between paying any support (formal or informal) and contact. For the subgroup of fathers who consistently see…
This report describes the activities and outcomes of the Fatherhood Initiative in South Carolina. The initiative funded ten fatherhood programs in twelve sites across the State. The report discusses the characteristics of the participants, barriers that are faced by fathers, components of the fatherhood programs, and the success of the programs. Findings from the initiative indicate 60% of the 2,437 men who entered the program were unemployed, and 55% did not have a high school degree. As a result of being in the program, 408 obtained employment, 214 improved their earnings, 597 received job…
