Brief
An NRFC team visited the Project Fatherhood program of Children’s Institute, Inc. (CII) in Los Angeles, California on March 20, 21, and 22, 2018. The team had the opportunity to talk with program staff, participants, graduates, and community partners. This NRFC Spotlight highlights aspects of Project Fatherhood that may be of interest to other fatherhood practitioners.
This fact sheet profiles the Parents as Teachers program, an evidence-based home visiting approach that builds strong families and promotes positive parent-child interaction so children are healthy, safe, and ready to learn. Findings from a 2004 study on the benefits and costs of prevention and early intervention programs are shared and indicate Parents as Teachers had the largest benefit per dollar of cost ($1.23) of all reviewed pre-kindergarten education programs for children up to age 3. Goals of the Parent as Teachers program are explained and include: enhance parent knowledge of child…
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.
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…
Brief
This brief highlights the importance of father-child visitation in the child welfare system and recommends best practices for child welfare professionals in facilitating and promoting these visits. It begins by reviewing the research on the link between parent/child visits and achieving permanency for the child. The differences between fathers and mothers that should inform practices relating to father-child visits are then explained, and included a greater focus on tasks, a less likelihood of talking about relationships, the use of a stern voice and fewer words when correcting children, more…
Brief
Little is known empirically about the implications of parental incarceration for children. This policy brief summarizes research examining the effects of paternal incarceration on several measures of children's school readiness, identifies circumstances that increase or mitigate children's risk, and identifies family processes that mediate incarceration's effects, presenting opportunities for policy and service intervention. (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 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…
