Two commentaries from the report, Military and Veteran Families and Children: Policies and Programs for Health Maintenance and Positive Development, deepen the discussion about how best to support military and veteran children and families. In the first commentary, Michelle Sherman, who has spent many years working in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system, describes innovative efforts of VHA programs to partner with community organizations to better support children and families. She also calls for VHAs to expand their focus to support veterans and their families. (Author abstract…
This report presents the results of a study that identified areas of Oregon in which greater investments in effective prevention services may be particularly beneficial. For the study, Portland State University’s Center for the Improvement of Child and Family Services (PSU) conducted a county-level assessment of rates of child abuse and neglect, risk factors for maltreatment, and level of implementation of 12 maltreatment prevention programs that had been highlighted in CTFO’s 2013 report “Preserving Childhood: Oregon’s Leading Efforts to Prevent Child Abuse and Strengthen Families”.…
This chapter provides an overview of the findings about everyday living and child welfare service involvement from 18 life stories collected from fathers involved with one Children's Aid Society in southern Ontario. Results indicate fathers appreciated understanding and supportive service providers, useful assistance, and connecting to useful resources.
This chapter discusses the need for interventions that bring fathers and paternal family members to the table in child protection efforts, and shares a case study from Vermont that illustrates how restorative justice can be used in family group meetings to challenge totalizing characterizations of fathers and men and help social workers partner with families and collaboration with their professional colleagues to create balanced assessment’s and manage risks. 64 references.
This paper provides background information on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), explains the basic requirements of ICWA, provides an overview of tribal child welfare and court systems, discusses disproportionality and its relationship to trends in ICWA compliance, highlights promising practices in State policy and practice that support ICWA, and underscores the necessity of working with tribal advocates on State child welfare policy change. Key ICWA requirements are summarized, as well as recommended practices that address State law, intergovernmental agreements, tribal-state forums,…
This report discusses the challenges faced by low-income families and highlights the two-generation approach that aims to create opportunities for families by simultaneously equipping parents and kids with the tools they need to thrive while removing the obstacles in their way. The three components of the two-generation strategy are explained and include: provide parents with multiple pathways to get family-supporting jobs and achieve financial stability; ensure access to high-quality early childhood education and enriching elementary school experiences; and equip parents to better support…
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Journal Article This cross-sectional study explored child welfare agency workers' attitudes and practice regarding working with fathers whose children are at-risk for abuse and neglect. Agency workers completed a questionnaire about their attitudes towards working with fathers, their knowledge of barriers to fathers' engagement, and their experiences with their own fathers. They also completed open-ended items about services and supports they felt would be most helpful to fathers. A content analysis of the data revealed critical themes for four areas that workers felt could be enhanced to effectively engage…
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Journal Article In times of stress or crisis for families, one effective approach practitioners can use is the conceptual framework of family strengths as a mechanism to promote strong, healthy relationships. The purpose of this article is to familiarize practitioners with the family strengths perspective and encourage them to incorporate family strengths into working with fathers. Clinical impressions will be discussed, including introducing Holistic Integration Techniques (HIT), along with other intervention strategies for practitioners implement. The concept of family strengths has been studied for…
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Journal Article The article focuses on a review of a research on the problems of teenage fathers and recommendations on public policy and clinical practice concerning the support to adolescent parents. The authors discuss the service needs of teenage fathers such as educational support services, evaluations of services for young adult fathers such as the Texas Fragile Families Initiative (TFFI), and educational activities concerning the prevention of early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STD). (Author abstract)
This fact sheet explains close to 2.7 million children have a parent in prison or jail, describes the increased risked faced by children of incarcerated parents, and highlights efforts by Reentry Council agencies to ensure children of incarcerated parents are not negatively impacted. Accomplishments of Reentry Council agencies are listed and include the development of materials for children about having an incarcerated parent and tips for caregivers on talking to children about incarceration, the establishment of an online consolidation of the federal resources available to support children…
