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Journal Article This study examines the relationships between ethnicity-based variations in nonresident fathers' involvement and children's behavior. Using weighted least squares regression analysis, this study investigates nonresident father involvement and children's behavior based on a nationally representative sample of children in the National Survey of America's Families. After controlling for family context variables, nonresident father involvement through increased frequency of visits was positively associated with better child behavior. The payment of formal or informal child support by nonresident…
Webinar
This Webinar discusses funding and collaboration opportunities with the Office of Child Support Enforcement, primarily through the utilization of Access & Visitation grants. (Author abstract)
Much of the success of the Federal child support program is contingent upon the ability or willingness of noncustodial parents (NCPs) to provide financial support for their children. As a result, OCSE has an established track record of supporting demonstration and research projects focused on testing innovative program practices that enable NCPs to assume personal responsibility (financial and emotional) for their children. Highlights of numerous demonstration and research projects funded by this office in recent years. This report contains information on projects related to: Fatherhood and…
The Building Strong Families evaluation is a multisite, random-assignment evaluation of a relationship skills education program for unmarried parents. From Mathematica Policy Research, this report evaluates the impact of a partnership between the Building Strong Families program and the Child Support Division of the Texas Office of the Attorney General. Researchers evaluate the partnership in terms of child support outcomes, including paternity establishment, child support orders, and child support payments.
Other
In honor of Father's Day, the Child Support Report offered three personal essays on fatherhood from leaders in the field, along with several perspectives on the child support program from state child support directors and researchers. (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 support…
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Journal Article Policy makers have become increasingly interested in addressing the cultural dimensions of child support, "responsible fatherhood," and marriage in poor communities. However, policy studies have primarily focused on identifying economic determinants of these issues, with a substantial amount of variation in their statistical models left unexplained. This article draws on in-depth interviews the author conducted with disadvantaged mothers and fathers to illustrate how a systematic investigation into the meaning of low-income mens ties to families may fill in or provide alternative explanations…
Both wages and labor force participation have been declining for young, less-educated men since the mid-1970s. The purpose of this article is to examine how key income-security policy areas--including unemployment insurance, payroll taxes and the Earned Income Tax Credit, and child support enforcement--affect these men. The article concludes with policy recommendations to improve the impact of work-based subsidies on poverty among low-income men. Subsidized jobs in transitional job programs could play a critical role in helping these men access these subsidies. (Author abstract)
As described in earlier articles, children whose parents have higher income and education levels are more likely to grow up in stable two-parent households than their economically disadvantaged counterparts. These widening gaps in fathers' involvement in parenting and in the quality and stability of parents' relationships may reinforce disparities in outcomes for the next generation. This paper reviews evidence about the effectiveness of two strategies to strengthen fathers' involvement and family relationships-- fatherhood programs aimed at disadvantaged noncustodial fathers and relationship…
Over time, public policy changes have strengthened the private child support system while reducing access to public support--welfare. Especially given the very limited availability of public support, nonresident fathers' economic contributions through child support can play an important role in helping children avoid poverty. In this paper we review evidence on nonresident fathers' ability to pay support, provide an overview of the way child support policies affect disadvantaged fathers, and propose new directions for child support policy. We argue that the current work-focused safety net,…
