This Resource Guide was developed to support service providers in their work with parents, caregivers, and their children to prevent child abuse and neglect and promote child and family well-being. It was created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, its Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention. The resources featured represent the work of a broad-based partnership of national organizations, Federal partners, and parents committed to strengthening…
This report provides an understanding of programmatic responsible fatherhood features that lead to strong engagement and participation by the fathers and provide context for the evaluation's forthcoming results on parenting, healthy relationships, and economic stability. This report specifically addresses three questions: 1) What were the circumstances, experiences, needs, and concerns of fathers at program entry? 2)To what extent and how did programs seek to address the needs, concerns, and circumstances presented by fathers; and 3) How did fathers respond to the offered programming in terms…
Training Materials, Report
Several decades of research on the impact that fathers have on the lives of children demonstrate that fathers have a significant influence on their children’s lives—whether by virtue of their presence, or by their absence. We designed this toolkit for professionals working to establish healthy relationships with fathers to improve service and/or program engagement. It includes a full complement of tools to help you use this film in your work. (Author abstract, modified)
Building Bridges and Bonds (B3), a study of Responsible Fatherhood programs, is testing a set of innovative approaches designed to help fathers advance their parenting and employment skills. One of these innovations is a new smartphone-based application called DadTime. DadTime is designed to support engagement with and attendance at a parenting program called Just Beginning, another B3 innovation.
This brief describes how MDRC collaborated with fathers – the intended users – to develop DadTime. (Author abstract)
The evaluation team selected four grantees to participate in the PACT RF study: (1) Connections to Success in Kansas and Missouri, (2) Fathers’ Support Center in Missouri, (3) FATHER Project at Goodwill–Easter Seals Minnesota, and (4) Urban Ventures in Minnesota. As required by ACF, the RF grantees offered services in three areas: (1) parenting and fatherhood, (2) healthy marriage and relationships, and (3) economic stability. (Author introduction modified)
The Parents and Children Together (PACT) evaluation, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is examining a set of Responsible Fatherhood (RF) and Healthy Marriage (HM) grantees funded by ACF’s Office of Family Assistance (OFA). One part of the evaluation—the qualitative study—focuses on the views and experiences of fathers who voluntarily enroll and participate in RF programs. This report describes themes and findings from the first round of in-depth interviews conducted as part of the…
This guidebook describes the steps and best practices for successfully selecting and implementing a parenting intervention. The purpose is to provide program, state, and child care network leaders an easy-to-use tool for implementing a parenting intervention. The guidebook may be used as a companion to the Compendium of Parenting Interventions recently developed by the Health and Human Services Interagency Parenting Group and the Head Start National Center on Family and Community Engagement for use across various community-based settings. The guidebook is organized according to four stages of…
This report describes four Responsible Fatherhood programs that focus primarily on low-income Hispanic fathers: Futuro Now from KidWorks, a partner of The East Los Angeles Community Union, in Santa Ana, California; Project Fatherhood at The Children’s Institute, Inc., in Los Angeles County, California; Project Padres at Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program in Imperial County, California; Responsible Fatherhood Program at Southwest Key in San Antonio, Texas. This study provides information about how these federally funded programs are implemented in a culturally relevant way and…
As a service member, or spouse or former spouse of one, you have unique child support needs. All branches of the armed forces offer parenting programs and resources to strengthen military families. This handbook supplements those resources by providing information you might need regarding paternity establishment, child support, access/visitation, and child custody. First line supervisors and military commanders may also find this a handy addition to a leadership toolkit. (Author abstract)
This resource is the final report of the QIC's research project on NonResident Fathers (NRF). There were three primary project goals: 1. To promote innovation, evidence-based practice improvements, and advancement of knowledge about child welfare outcomes by involving NRFs through experimental research designs testing promising practices. 2. To establish a national problem-solving and collaborative information-sharing network among sub-grantees, the Children’s Bureau TA network, public child welfare agencies, private service providers, fatherhood and healthy marriage groups, and other…
