The Bush administration has proposed several initiatives to improve child well-being by increasing marriage and father involvement. Research supports the intent of the proposal to create a stable environment for children. This report expands on previous studies to examine differences in family structures by race and age. Data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families are presented for six categories of family relationships: child's birth parents are married; child's parents are divorced, but the father visits regularly; the child's biological parents have never married, but are…
The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network held a roundtable in November 2003 to discuss best practices for strengthening families separated by parental incarceration. Participants reviewed national trends and examined the components of state initiatives designed to reduce recidivism and alleviate the negative impact of parental incarceration on children. Emphasis was placed on improving parenting skills and nurturing parent-child relationships. This final report summarizes the challenges identified by programs, such as the lack of family stability, limited parenting skills, child support…
This report discusses the outcomes of an evaluation of Healthy Families Arizona, a home visitation program designed to provide supportive services and education to parents of newborns who might benefit from support to strengthen their families. The program is intended to promote positive parent/child interaction and child health, and prevent child abuse and neglect. All services are voluntary and assistance is typically provided for 12 to 18 months but may be provided for up to five years. This report focuses on aggregate data that are summarized across the 23 sites that make up the Healthy…
