Other
Child welfare and related professionals often struggle to find parent education programs and modalities that can help at-risk parents make long-lasting changes in their parenting practices. This article describes The Video Home Training (VHT) and Video Interaction Guidance (VIG), two evidence-based, strengths-based programs that rely on video feedback that have shown promising results for parents and others.
This toolkit is designed to support and sustain parent engagement by explaining strategies communities can use to maintain and grow parent engagement work that is already underway. The strategies include creating a parent engagement roadmap, checklist, and support network. The toolkit includes information, examples, and questions that parent and community partners can draw from as they jointly develop parent engagement strategies that reflect their priorities and communities. Section 1 reviews the purpose of the toolkit and Section 2 defines parent engagement and sustainability. The following…
Men and women who are incarcerated face substantial challenges to maintaining their family relationships, both intimate and parenting. These difficulties continue as they reenter into society after their incarceration. Absence from or low levels of contact between partners due to incarceration places strain on marriages and serious romantic relationships. Parental absence due to incarceration can also imperil the well-being of children (if the parent-child relationship was not abusive). Studies show that incarcerated individuals with closer family relationships have lower recidivism rates,…
Marriage and relationship education (MRE), HeadStart and Early Head Start are all educationalprograms that help strengthen families and promotechild well-being. Recognizing this, the National HeadStart Association and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) created a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU) in 2008 to provide a framework for collaboration between ACF Healthy Marriage/Responsible Fatherhood Initiatives and Head Start to provide interested families with MRE services. This Tip Sheet will provide a brief overview of how the two programs, working together, can benefit families…
Many social service programs share common goals although they may vary widely by funding stream, service delivery strategy and/or target population. The marriage and relationship education (MRE) field and the child welfare system both strive to strengthen families and improve child outcomes. MRE practitioners may want to consider building partnerships with child protective services (CPS) to offer MRE as part of an intervention for families whose children may be at risk for abuse and/or neglect. This tip sheet provides advice on how to engage CPS in providing MRE to families. (Author abstract…
Marriage and relationship education (MRE) andresponsible fatherhood (RF) programs share the goalof improving the lives of children by strengtheningthe interpersonal skills of their parents. The origins of these program areas are distinct: MRE beganprimarily as a way to prepare couples for marriagewhereas RF was originally designed to prepareunmarried fathers to reconnect with their childrenand families. However, a common purpose has emerged between the two fields. According to the U.S. Census, more than 2.5 million children areraised in families without their biological father. This statistic…
Other
This article explains how family group decision making (FGDM) can be used as a powerful tool for improving the engagement of father and paternal relatives in the lives of children involved with the child welfare system. It highlights a brief published by American Humane that discusses how FGDM can overcome barriers to father involvement in child welfare and strategies to minimize safety concerns relating to FGDM.
Brief
As a children's attorney or lawyer guardian ad litem (GAL), your advocacy should include efforts to engage fathers in child welfare cases. Many of your child clients' biological fathers may not live with them when CPS becomes involved with the family. Or, the father may not be accused of abuse or neglect when CPS intervenes. This guide offers practice tips to identify and engage these fathers in your child clients' cases. Some of this material may also be useful when working with noncustodial mothers or custodial fathers. The information and tips will help you make informed recommendations…
Brief
A large percentage of poor children live with just one parent, usually their mother, and single-parent families are more vulnerable to economic downturns than are two-parent families. Living arrangements also affect the optimal design of policies related to income support and child support. In this paper we briefly review changes in family structure and the relationship between family structure and employment, and then focus on policies that are essential to reducing poverty in the context of the current work-based safety net, in which low-income families with children rely increasingly on…
Brief
This Practice Sheet summarises and builds upon the findings from the Engaging Fathers study (Berlyn, Wise, & Soriano, 2008). It provides ideas for practitioners and policy-makers about how to increase engagement of fathers in child and family services and programs. (Author abstract)
