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Journal Article The majority of teen pregnancy literature and practice is deficit based, focusing on the consequences of teen pregnancy; significantly less research is devoted to the teens’ strengths. This article discusses the strengths-based perspective as a viable framework for clinicians and school social workers to implement to help teen parents and their families ameliorate some of the challenges they encounter. This article emphasizes the importance of clinicians, school social workers, and the community to adopt a strengths-based perspective when working with teen parents in order to cultivate…
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Journal Article This study extended work on the consequences of incarceration for families by linking parents’ incarcerations to their material support of children entering adulthood. It examined two categories of support, parental transfers of cash and shared housing, that are known deficits among young children of incarcerated parents and that play important roles in young adult attainment and well-being. Propensity score analyses of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N [Wave3] = 14,023; N [Wave4] = 14,361) revealed that previously incarcerated mothers were less likely to give…
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Journal Article This article discusses experimental tests of two recent administrative interventions, the TANF 16 intervention and the statement intervention, designed to increase child support collections in Washington State. The TANF 16 intervention sought to reimburse the state for TANF benefits paid to custodial parents by intensively pursuing collections in arrears-only cases. The statement intervention tested whether sending regular billing statements to noncustodial parents who were new to the child support system increased compliance. While the TANF 16 intervention's effects represent a substantial…
Webinar
Bullying is a problem faced by many children at school, in the community, and online. Children may bully others, they may be victims of bullying behavior, or they may find themselves in a bystander role. This NRFC webinar focuses on ways in which fatherhood programs can address these and related issues with fathers and their local communities.
Goals of Webinar:
After this training webinar, participants will improve their knowledge and understanding of:
The different roles that children may play in bullying behavior.
Ways in which fathers can talk with their children about… red dot icon
Journal Article This issue of The Future of Children seeks to integrate existing knowledge about the children and families of today's United States military; to identify what we know (and don't know) about their strengths and the challenges they face, as well as the programs that serve them; to specify directions for future research; and to illuminate the evidence (or lack thereof) behind current and future policies and programs that serve these children and families. At the same time, it highlights how research on nonmilitary children and families can help us understand their military-connected counterparts…
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Journal Article Findings from a study of casework outreach to birthparents of children in out-of-home care are presented. The study explored whether the birthfather was being ignored as a resource for discharge planning. It examined the outreach and interventions of caseworkers in three New York City out-of-home care agencies. Casework activity levels were found to be higher for birthmothers than for birthfathers, and a complex relationship among the variables of gender, outreach, and response was revealed. The nature and value of more specific outreach toward birthfathers of children in care, and the risk…
This examination of Judeo-Christian faith-based initiatives promoting responsible fatherhood explores the basic values and assumptions of such interventions and the characteristics of several successful programs. A number of barriers and challenges exist to faith-based fatherhood programs focused on improving the father-child-family relationship. The basic assumption of such programs is that to be a good father a man must become a man of God, the authors explain, and scriptures provide many examples and moral lessons about the behavior and character of a good father. Evangelical Protestant…
This examination of fathers rights presents a series of legal tools for father advocates that can serve as an alternative to court litigation. Often fathers who are very involved with their children's lives find themselves relegated to the status of visitor after a contentious divorce, and feel the only way to gain greater access to the children is through the courts. The authors of this chapter suggest alternative strategies, but stress that the most important duty of newly divorced fathers to understand the rules of family law. Wage assignments and child support add-ons, such as health…
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Journal Article Despite efforts made by management and caseworkers to promote active parental participation in the protective context, fathers or other male figures are often brushed aside from intervention. This paper presents the results of qualitative research on methods used by youth protection caseworkers (n = 22) working with stepfather families. The main objective is to identify items that encourage or discourage stepfather involvement in psychosocial interventions. Results showed that certain items do not apply solely to stepfathers, but influence youth protection caseworker decision-making from a…
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Journal Article This study sought to describe fathers' participation in a statewide home-visiting program to prevent child abuse and to assess program impact on their parenting. This randomized trial followed 643 at-risk families for 3 years. Data were collected through program record review, staff surveys, and annual maternal interviews. Participation in visits varied by the parents' relationship and paternal employment, violence, and heavy drinking at baseline. Overall, the program had no apparent impact on fathers' accessibility to the child, engagement in parenting activities, and sharing of…
