Sponsored by a grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation, the goals of the one-day event were to invite professionals working in corrections and in the fatherhood field to gather to (1) identify barriers that fathers encounter as they reenter their families, neighborhoods and communities; and (2) propose organizational and community strategies that may be implemented to promote fathers' successful transition and reduce recidivism. This Final Report includes highlights of the day and recommendations for future action. (Author abstract modified)
As part of a process of identifying attitudes and opinions, Fathers, Inc. held three focus groups of adolescents involved in a dropout prevention program to assist in understanding the attitudes of teenagers with regards to fatherhood. This report discusses findings from the focus groups and offers programmatic suggestions drawn from the findings. Focus group 1 consisted of males, ages 15-20 years, of African heritage and multiracial. Although the majority was being raised in single parent households, some were living with a mother and stepfather, and one was living with an aunt. A little…
Over the last decade, there has been a growing awareness of the role that fathers can play to support children in their early years of development. Those administering early childhood education programs have begun to reach out to parents for the specific purpose of promoting father involvement and leadership. Head Start programs have been a national model for parent involvement in early education and development and are now a national leader in linking father involvement to early childhood development and education. The recommendations and ideas in this fact sheet have emerged from the Head…
We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to explore how relationship quality among married and unmarried parents around the time of their baby's birth and in the subsequent year is associated with parenting of one-year-old children. We examine two measures of relationship quality (supportiveness and frequency of conflict) and two domains of parenting (positive engagement and spanking) for both mothers and fathers. We find a positive association between relationship quality and parenting among both married and unmarried couples, underscoring previous research on…
This paper examines the impact of substance abuse on family functioning from two perspectives: children as victims of parental drug use and the family's role in preventing children's abuse of drugs and alcohol. The discussion addresses the health effects of parental substance abuse on the family in the form of prenatal exposure, environmental tobacco smoke, and injuries to children when parents are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The financial consequences of smoking and alcohol abuse, marital problems related to substance abuse, social isolation, and risk for domestic violence…
The percentage of children under the age of 18 who live with two parents decreased steadily for several decades (from approximately 85% in 1970 to approximately 68% by the mid-1990s1). Beginning in the mid-1990s, this decrease leveled off and the proportion of U.S. children who live with two married parents has since remained at approximately 68 percent. Despite relatively little change over the last decade, the proportion of U.S. children who live in a single parent household has more than doubled since 1970, from approximately 12 percent to 28 percent. (Author abstract)
The Sure Start Plus pilot program was implemented in England to target support services to teen parents. The initiative was intended to reduce social isolation and improve parenting skills, health care, housing opportunities, and child care. Through a variety of models, Sure Start Plus offered individual advisors, advocacy, group therapy, and parenting classes. This executive summary presents an overview of the program and highlights the findings of an evaluation. The review indicated that crisis services, parenting activities, and health assistance were successful in helping the young women…
Data and sources of information on the effects of father absence on poverty, maternal and child health, incarceration, crime, teen pregnancy, child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, education, and childhood obesity.
We use new data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study in twenty large U.S. cities, to investigate the level and predictors of fathers' involvement with children approximately three years after a nonmarital birth (N=3,009). We examine the frequency of fathers' spending time with their child, their engagement in various father-child activities, and their help toward the mother with household and child-related tasks. We explore differences in fathers' involvement by parents' relationship status at birth, defined as cohabiting (n=1,449), visiting (…
