Brief, NRFC Quick Statistics and Research Reviews, Brief
Roughly one in five people and more than one in 10 men between the ages of 18 and 44 in the United States live in rural communities. Although rural and urban fathers are similar in many ways, there are significant differences shaping their lives and opportunities that have implications for fatherhood programs. For instance, program staff working in rural communities often report that higher rates of unemployment, lower educational attainment, limited job opportunities, and lack of transportation translate to challenges that are difficult to address and unique to rural communities. This…
Report, Other
This publication introduces an assessment and planning tool to help nonprofits evaluate their parent engagement efforts and chart a path toward deeper partnerships with parents and caregivers. The tool spans just eight pages, with accompanying text outlining how to use it, how to assess its results and what real-world strategies and programs are already in play — and working — to boost parent engagement. (Author Abstract)
Brief
This brief explains the Two-Generation (Two-Gen) approach for working with families builds well-being by creating a solid and stable foundation through integrated, intensive, and high-quality services in four areas of focus: early childhood education, elementary education, economic stability, and family engagement. It discusses findings from a research study that explored how three States (Connecticut, Colorado, and Utah) are development and implementing a Two-Gen framework in practice and how support for an intentional Two-Gen approach can be translated into a coordinated implementation…
The Building Strong Families evaluation is a multisite, random-assignment evaluation of a relationship skills education program for unmarried parents. From Mathematica Policy Research, this report evaluates the impact of a partnership between the Building Strong Families program and the Child Support Division of the Texas Office of the Attorney General. Researchers evaluate the partnership in terms of child support outcomes, including paternity establishment, child support orders, and child support payments.
This guide is intended for practitioners who are familiar with operating an MRE program for Hispanic families and are interested in exploring collaboration with government to expand the reach of their MRE program. It offers concrete strategies on 1) how to identify which areas of government are right for you to partner with and 2) how to develop relationshipswith policymakers. An overview of the key components of this process is highlighted and examples of collaborations with the social servicesystem are provided to illustrate potential areas forhealthy marriage and relationship integration.…
This brief draws on the personal experience of the Project Director for Family Services of Greater Houston in Texas, to offer tips for lobbying a State's legislature for the implementation of marriage preparation and relationship strengthening services. Recommendations include: know your legislators, know the lobbyists, do your homework before you pick up the phone, be specific about the funding you will go after, make an appointment, help write the bill, and review similar bills created in different States and incorporate language from those bills.
Although both men and women are involved in marriage, relationship matters are often considered the woman's domain. For practitioners offering marriage and relationship education (MRE), this general belief can often make engaging men in your program a challenge. Information is relatively sparse with regard to how men can be engaged in marriage education. There is research on men and commitment, and there are relatively frequent pop culture references to men and marriage regarding infidelity or gender roles, but very few resources are available for married men to support their relationship.…
Government touches the lives of families in many ways. Because of the complexity of governmental organizations, community- and faith-based organizations may be reluctant to partner with government, especially to deliver marriage/relationship education services (MRE). This guide is intended for practitioners who are familiar with operating an MRE program and are interested in exploring collaboration with government to expand the reach of their MRE program. In addition, this guide offers concrete strategies on 1) how to identify which areas of government are right for you to partner with and 2…
In May 2009, the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC) and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) co-sponsored the conference "Toward a Common Understanding: Domestic Violence Typologies and Implications for Healthy Marriage and Domestic Violence Programs" at the Airlie Conference Center in Warrenton, Virginia. The conference brought together a diverse set of 35 experts to critically examine the underlying research on different types of intimate partner violence (IPV) and consider their implications for practice. This guide summarizes the conference…
This collection of state-level analyses details promising occupations expected to experience growth through 2022 that someone can enter after completing a relatively short-term training. This product includes an introductory piece and ten appendices comprised of tables with state-level findings for each of the ACF Regions. The tables include information for the U.S. as a whole, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Visit the interactive map at Promising Occupations for Low-…
