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Journal Article Healthy Families New York (HFNY) is an evidence-based home visiting program for expectant and new parents in socioeconomically disadvantaged families at elevated risk for child maltreatment and other adverse outcomes. HFNY makes concerted efforts to promote a father-inclusive culture and increase engagement of fathers in all aspects of home visiting. This study describes fathers’ participation in HFNY and examines how fathers’ participation relates to program retention and to father–child co-residency and father involvement. Program data were extracted from HFNY’s data management system.…
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Journal Article Taking a preventive father-inclusive approach, the Supporting Father Involvement (SFI) intervention aims to strengthen coparenting, parent–child relationships, and child outcomes. This study replicates four prior iterations of the program using the same 32-hour curriculum facilitated by clinically trained staff, case managers, and onsite child care and family meals. With its intentional outreach and inclusion of fathers, SFI offers an effective intervention for lower risk child welfare–involved families. Results argue for the utility of treating community and child welfare parents in mixed…
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Journal Article There is substantial and growing evidence to demonstrate the importance of fathers to child development and the impact of fathers’ positive or negative involvement on the health and well-being of mothers and children (Feldman, Bamberger, & Kanat-Maymon, 2013; Lamb, 2010; Lamb & Lewis, 2013), yet fathers remain underserved in parenting programs and many other domains of social work practice (Panter-Brick et al., 2014; Stahlschmidt, Threlfall, Seay, Lewis, & Kohl, 2013). Despite widespread motivation and investment in parenting on the part of fathers, service providers often face…
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Journal Article Although scholars and policy makers herald the promotive influence of fathers' parenting involvement, limited research has carefully delineated effects of fathers' parenting on low-income children's development and whether early contributions from fathers confer long-term protective effects. Using data from the Three-City Study (N = 261), analyses assessed whether fathers' parenting practices during early childhood showed long-term links with low-income children's cognitive skills through middle childhood. Results found that fathers' warm and stimulating parenting predicted enhanced reading…
This report measures how children from different racial backgrounds are faring in the United States and focuses particularly on children in immigrant families. The data presented are drawn from 2013-2015, and indicate significant racial and ethnic inequities among children, with Asian and Pacific Islander and white children generally doing better in almost every area of child well-being than their African-American, Latino, and American Indian peers. The data also indicate the number of children living in low poverty neighborhoods has decreased across all groups. Following an introduction,…
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Journal Article Objectives: An increasing body of research has documented the significant influence of father involvement on children’s development and overall well-being. However, extant research has predominately focused on middle-class Caucasian samples with little examination of fathering in ethnic minority and low-income families, particularly during the infancy period. The present study evaluated measures of early father involvement (paternal engagement, accessibility, and responsibility) that were adapted to capture important cultural values relevant to the paternal role in Mexican-origin families.…
Boys and young men of color are at risk for poor health and developmental outcomes from birth through young adulthood. Many risks flow from a lack of economic resources and residence in segregated neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage. This paper outlines these developmental challenges and identifies societal, institutional, and community changes that would increase resources, eliminate or reduce stress and trauma, and provide support for boys and families. It also identifies some knowledge gaps that must be filled in order to increase the effectiveness of programs directed toward this…
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Journal Article Contextual, mother-, child-, and father-level variables were examined in association with fathers' emotion talk to infants during a shared picture book activity, in an ethnically diverse, low-income sample (N = 549). Significant main effects included the rate of emotion talk from fathers' romantic partners (i.e., the infant's mother), infant attention and distress, and sensitive parenting. Significant interactions were also found. Higher income African American fathers referred to negative emotions more than non-African American higher income fathers. In addition, African American fathers who…
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Journal Article This special issue contains articles that explore how disadvantaged young men are faring in the face of low educational achievement, joblessness, out-of-wedlock childbearing, incarceration, and in the face of the Great Recession. An introductory article reviews social and economic forces facing young fathers, and the following four articles outline the economic status of low-income men and fathers. The deteriorating labor market prospects for low-skilled men in the United States is discussed, as well as young disadvantaged men as fathers, the relationship contexts of young disadvantaged…
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…
