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Journal Article Findings from a study of casework outreach to birthparents of children in out-of-home care are presented. The study explored whether the birthfather was being ignored as a resource for discharge planning. It examined the outreach and interventions of caseworkers in three New York City out-of-home care agencies. Casework activity levels were found to be higher for birthmothers than for birthfathers, and a complex relationship among the variables of gender, outreach, and response was revealed. The nature and value of more specific outreach toward birthfathers of children in care, and the risk…
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Journal Article The authors provide an overview of two issues of the Children and Youth Services Review that report the findings on a study of the impact of welfare reform on unwed parents. The Fragile Families and Child Well-Being study compared the family situations of 3,600 children of unmarried parents and 1,100 children born to married parents during the same time period. Mothers and fathers were interviewed shortly after the birth of their child with additional interviews planned for 12, 30, and 48 months. The questions addressed the characteristics of parents eligible for welfare benefits in the…
This examination of Judeo-Christian faith-based initiatives promoting responsible fatherhood explores the basic values and assumptions of such interventions and the characteristics of several successful programs. A number of barriers and challenges exist to faith-based fatherhood programs focused on improving the father-child-family relationship. The basic assumption of such programs is that to be a good father a man must become a man of God, the authors explain, and scriptures provide many examples and moral lessons about the behavior and character of a good father. Evangelical Protestant…
This examination of fathers rights presents a series of legal tools for father advocates that can serve as an alternative to court litigation. Often fathers who are very involved with their children's lives find themselves relegated to the status of visitor after a contentious divorce, and feel the only way to gain greater access to the children is through the courts. The authors of this chapter suggest alternative strategies, but stress that the most important duty of newly divorced fathers to understand the rules of family law. Wage assignments and child support add-ons, such as health…
Although the 1998 welfare reform law supported the promotion of marriage to reduce poverty, most initiatives have dedicated resources to employment programs for mothers. This chapter describes how marriage can improve child well-being by increasing family income and facilitating relationships between fathers and their children. Lessons learned from programs such as Parents' Fair Share and the Fragile Families Initiative have demonstrated the importance of activities that encourage marital stability and paternal social and emotional involvement at an early age. However, policies must address…
Central to effective programs addressing the complex needs of non-custodial parents is the collaboration of agencies. In particular, this workshop seeks to bring together and encourage partnership between TANF and OCSE state agencies. TANF presents States with substantial flexibility in the design of programs. The idea behind TANF is that everybody wins when families are moved from welfare to sustainable employment that provide earnings consistent with self-sufficiency. The dramatic drop in the TANF caseloads, now estimated at about one half of the families in welfare in 1996, left states…
The ACF West-Central Hub Family Stabilization Workshop, held September 26 and 27, 2001, in Denver, had three primary themes: Responsible Fatherhood, Faith-based and Community Initiatives, and Marriage and Family Stabilization. This report summarizes the key findings of the workshop. (Author abstract)
The Agenda for Action seeks to encourage nonprofit organizations to focus their management practices and decisions on the results they intend to achieve for their participants. This focus goes beyond just measuring the results to actually using the results to increase the effectiveness of their services and improve their service outcomes. Put another way, the agenda encourages not just outcome measurement, but outcome management as well. Other performance measurement elements, such as financial condition and efficiency of operations, although important, are not addressed. (Author abstract…
A survey of the fifty States and the District of Columbia on fatherhood initiatives identified 31 commissions, initiatives, and programs, 3 of which were inactive. This report provides a State-by-State profile of the different initiatives. The profiles include information on the development of the program, the mission, duties and responsibilities, meetings and reporting requirements, agency contact, and activities to date. Findings from the survey indicate several States reported that administration and implementation of all, or at least part, of their fatherhood activities were contracted to…
Despite increasing recognition of the role of fathers in the lives of their children, home visitors and child protection workers usually perceive men to be the source of problems and do not include them in their interventions with vulnerable children. Social work tends to marginalize fathers and avoid assessing their risks or benefits to the family. This book outlines theoretical justifications for the engagement of fathers in child protection work and suggests relevant practice strategies. Important concepts from attachment theory, feminist theory, and nursing theory are highlighted. The…
