Brief
This research brief describes implementation findings from the evaluation of Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Reentering Fathers and Their Partners (MFS-IP). It documents approaches to teaching relationship skills among incarcerated and reentering fathers and their families. The multi-year implementation and impact evaluation of the MFS-IP grants is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Author abstract)
While incarceration penalizes lawbreakers, it also has unintended punishing effects on the children left behind, often causing stress and family instability that may contribute to challenges to children's well-being immediately and over the course of their lives. (Author abstract)
Brief
This brief highlights programs that are re-thinking services for children and families based on the science of early childhood development and understanding of the consequences of adverse early experiences and toxic stress. Efforts by Acelero Learning in New York City, the Westside Infant-Family Network in Los Angeles, and Catholic Community Services of the Mid-Willamette Valley and Central Cost in Oregon are described.
Brief
This research brief shares findings from an evaluation of the Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Reentering Fathers and Their Partners (MFS-IP), a program that funded services to support families in which one parent was incarcerated or recently released. The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) within the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provided up to $500,000 per year for five years to twelve grantees. OFA's family strengthening initiative required grantees to work with both…
Over the last 25 years, the number of incarcerated persons has quadrupled. The number of children with a father in prison increased 77% from 1991-2007 and the number with a mother in prison increased 131% in the same time. Incarceration of a parent is very much a family matter. It has long-range economic, emotional and social consequences that affect prisoners and families, and that can affect children's well-being. Children of the incarcerated are one of the most at-risk, yet least visible, populations of children. Data about families affected by incarceration is fraught with major data gaps…
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 how family-centered strategies must not put women and children at greater risk of violence. Because the child support program serves both parents, often around a crisis point, it has a unique responsibility--and a unique opportunity--to reduce the risk of family violence and help…
Brief
To promote a more coordinated approach to meeting children's developmental needs, this brief proposes the adoption of the SERIES paradigm of developmental screening in which each step -- Screening, Early Identification, Referral, Intake, Evaluation, and Services -- is seen not as an isolated activity, but rather an integral component of a single process. SERIES challenges all systems serving young children to broaden their focus to include practices that promote shared responsibility for ensuring that each child successfully completes the entire pathway from screening to services. This brief…
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 ways in which the child support program can help prevent the need for its services by promoting responsible childbearing and parenting choices and by raising awareness--especially among teenagers--of the financial, legal, and emotional responsibilities of parenthood. Examples of how…
