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Journal Article Stricter child support enforcement may reduce unwed childbearing by raising the costs of fatherhood. The authors investigate this hypothesis using a sample of young women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, to which they add information on state child support enforcement. Models of the probability of a teenage premarital birth and of teenage premarital pregnancy and pregnancy resolution provide tentative evidence that during the early 1980s, teens living in states with higher rates of paternity establishment were less likely to become unwed mothers. This relationship is stronger…
This program evaluation assessed the effectiveness of the Young Men as Fathers (YMAF) program administered by the California Youth Authority. The program offers parenting education to 15 to 20 wards of the state living in four institutions to help them become more involved in their families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and provide greater emotional and financial support to their children. Data for the evaluation was collected for 822 program participants from July 1993 through December 1995 and for a comparison group of 847 wards in two non-participating institutions. While the…
This final report on a demonstration project in Maine designed to serve young fathers of children born to teenage mothers describes the project and its outcomes. The project background and its goals and objectives are reviewed. Project design development and site selection are described, with an emphasis on convening a statewide planning group, defining a target population and essential project components and service priorities, and developing a system for site review and process evaluation. Implementation of the demonstration model is outlined, focusing on conducting staff training, defining…
