This resource provides fathers with concrete tips on how and what they can do to support their pregnant partners.
Successful reentry is one of the greatest challenges facing America today and, especially the future of our children. The greatest predictor of whether a child will wind up in prison is whether his parent(s)— namely, the father—was in prison. Despite the many daunting challenges that fathers face upon their release, connecting them with their children and family is perhaps the most strategic one to address because it breaks the generational nature of crime and incarceration.
Brief
In fiscal year 2018, noncustodial parents were obligated to pay nearly $33.6 billion in current child support on behalf of the 15 million children served by the Title IV-D child support program. One-third of that, or $11 billion, was not collected. Unemployment is the leading reason for non-payment of child support by noncustodial parents. This brief will explore the opportunities at the state and federal levels to provide employment services to noncustodial parents and increase child support payments in the process.
Fatherhood in America is changing. Today, fathers who live with their children are taking a more active role in caring for them and helping out around the house, and the ranks of single fathers have grown significantly in recent decades. At the same time, more and more children are growing up without a father in the home. The changing role of fathers has introduced new challenges as dads juggle the competing demands of family and work. Here are some key findings about fathers from Pew Research Center. (Author introduction modified)
Brief
This brief describes the work of Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Re-entering Fathers and Their Partners (MFS-IP) grantees in delivering programming in correctional facilities. The brief documents challenges faced by grantees, including logistical barriers, recruitment problems, and challenges retaining incarcerated fathers in programming. (Author abstract)
Brief
This brief describes the work of Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Re-entering Fathers and Their Partners (MFS-IP) grantees in delivering programming to the partners of incarcerated fathers. The brief documents services offered to partners; challenges encountered in enrolling and serving partners; and solutions grantees employed to meet these challenges. (Author abstract)
Brief
This brief describes implementation findings from the evaluation of Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Reentering Fathers and Their Partners (MFS-IP) funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). It documents innovative parenting supports provided to incarcerated and reentering fathers and their families. (Author abstract)
Unpublished Paper
The structure of marriage and child-rearing in U.S. households has undergone two marked shifts in the last three decades: a steep decline in the prevalence of marriage among young adults, and a sharp rise in the fraction of children born to unmarried mothers or living in single-headed households. A potential contributor to both phenomena is the declining labor-market opportunities faced by males, which make them less valuable as marital partners. We exploit large scale, plausibly exogenous labor-demand shocks stemming from rising international manufacturing competition to test how shifts in…
Brief
This brief uses a sample of over 1,000 reentering men in five states to examine reentry success. The analysis uses a common measure of recidivism as well as measures of success in other areas, including employment, drug use, and two dimensions of family relationship quality that are very rarely examined in reentry studies: financial support for children and intimate/coparenting relationship quality. The results suggest that most men were successful in at least four of the measured areas and that family contact during incarceration was positively associated with reentry success. Further,…
This family profile from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research is the first in a series documenting the family structure of American children and describes how the characteristics of children's parents and family life differ based on marital status of two biological parent families. (Author abstract modified)
