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Training Materials
This video follows a diverse group of expectant and new dads as they play a vital role in pregnancy, labor, and the birth of their children. The DVD is divided into five easy-to-view sections: 1. Dads are unique - why are dads essential? 2. The Pregnant Father - going to prenatal exams, healthy habits, finances, and taking time off. 3. Labor and Birth - being there, attending to mom's needs, asking questions, being with baby. 4. Emotions - postpartum blues for mom and dad, intimacy. 5. Baby care - benefits of breastfeeding, bonding, signs of illness, SIDS, Shaken Baby Syndrome, coping with…
Positive interactions with adults during the first three years of life are vital for healthy emotional, social, and intellectual development. Research has found that 85 percent of the neurons in the brain that contribute to academic success are formed by the age of three years old. However, public funding for children's services is lowest for this age group. This guide describes policies that should be implemented by the state of Illinois to promote nurturing relationships that help children to develop. The suggestions address methods for strengthening parent-child attachments, supporting…
The Department of Health and Human Services Peer Technical Assistance Network sponsored a roundtable discussion to share ideas about programs to strengthen families who are separated by parental incarceration. Government officials, service providers, and practitioners from Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma reviewed trends in incarceration and discussed solutions to common challenges. Prisoner re-entry, recidivism, and the impact of incarceration on children and parents specifically were discussed. Attendees noted the need to focus on nurturing stability in dysfunctional…
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the number of parents in prison increased significantly during the 1990s. Parental incarceration and the disruption of family relationships have several negative effects on children, including poverty, poor academic performance, aggression, depression, delinquency, and substance abuse. However, parenting programs can help mothers and fathers in prison to strengthen attachments to their children and protect them from risk behaviors. Effective family dynamics also can reduce recidivism for parents after their release from prison. The Welfare Peer…
We use data from the Fragile Families Study (N = 3317) to document the number of changes in maternal romantic partnerships experienced by children between their birth and age 3, particularly children born to unmarried mothers. We also examine the association between partnership instability and parenting, child health and behavior. We find significantly high levels of partnership instability among children born to unmarried mothers. In addition, partnership instability is negatively associated with parenting, child health, and behavioral problems for children at age 3. Each partnership change…
This paper examines the ways in which families with children have changed over the course of the twentieth century in the United States and the rise of single-parent families. It begins with a discussion of the negative effects of single parenthood and findings from research on the economic and developmental disadvantages of children raised in single parent families. Factors that have influenced the prevalence of single parenthood are explored and include the birth control pill and legalized abortion that have weakened the link between marriage and childbearing, changing sexual mores that…
This resource profiles the experiences of efforts in nine states to provide mutual self-help parent support groups to fathers, grandparents raising grandchildren, icarcerated parents, parents raising children with special needs, parents in recovery, and rural parents. The document describes the contextual factors these groups face, and provides information on the different strategies states used to best meet the needs of families. Some strategies worked well in certain states and not as well in others. Geographic, demographic, and cultural variables impact service delivery. A range of…
