This report discusses six programs being considered by the 108th Congress for reauthorization, focusing on policies designed to assist disconnected and at-risk youth. The review seeks to identify how the programs do or do not consider at-risk or disconnected youth ad how such programs might be improved. After an introduction by Alan Houseman, six papers include: "The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act and Disconnected Youth" (Cynthia G. Brown and Andy Hartman); "The Higher Education Act and Disconnected Youth" (Thomas R. Wolanin); "The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and…
This paper explores the number of parents in prisons and jails in the United States and in the State of Hawaii, and unique challenges faced by Hawaiian parents who are incarcerated and their children. The growth in the number of females in the Hawaiian prison population is noted, as well as the State's use of Oklahoma and Arizona private prisons for approximately 24% of its felons. Information is provided on the characteristics of incarcerated parents, Hawaii's prison population profile and trends, negative impact of parental incarceration on children, parents, and families, and problems with…
This brief highlights findings from research about the impact of father involvement on child development and well-being. The literature includes studies of intact families, as well as families in which children do not live with their father. In general, the research indicates that fathers can have a significant impact on cognitive development, academic achievement, and social development, especially when they participate in child care tasks and utilize a warm and nurturing parenting style. Child support is associated with positive cognitive, academic, and behavioral outcomes for children…
Relying on new data from fathers in the Fragile Families and Child WellBeing survey (n=2,903), the author examines fathers reports of the most important perceived paternal role among six different domains: providing economic support, direct care, love and affection, protection, discipline, and teaching the child about life. Approximately half of all fathers identified providing love and affection as the most important thing that fathers do. A substantial minority said that teaching the child about life was the key activity; whereas a relatively small proportion said that economic support and…
This policy brief explores the impact of parental incarceration on young children and how communities, social service agencies, health care providers, and the criminal justice system can work collaboratively to better meet the needs of the families left behind. It begins by discussing the characteristics of incarcerated parents and the consequences of imprisonment on children. It cites research indicating short-term effects on children including: feelings of shame, social stigma, loss of financial support, weakened ties to the parent, change in family composition, poor school performance,…
A study investigated the characteristics of fathers whose children are participating in the Early Head Start program, their level of involvement with their families and children, and how and why involvement changes over time. Two interviews and associated observations were conducted with 108 men, identified by mothers as involved in their child's life, within the first 14 months of their children's lives. Findings indicate almost all of the fathers were the biological fathers and most were living with their children. The fathers were involved in multiple ways with their children, including:…
Almost one-third of all children and 70% of African American children in the U.S. are born to parents who are not married. At the time of children's births, almost all unmarried fathers have contact with their infants, but this connection drops over time. This study presents a study of 55 unmarried low-income African American couples in the early months after the birth of a child. The study considers the implications of the quality of parents' couple relationship, as well as of parents' demographics, personal resources, and family structure for understanding variation in fathers' involvement…
This report includes perspectives from domestic violence advocates, batterer program representatives, and fatherhood program representatives on the scope and challenges of fatherhood programs. Participants attended two meetings held in May 2001 and July 2002, to discuss the variety of issues confronting fatherhood programs. One of the key concerns discussed was the inclusion of domestic violence information in such programs. The report shares participants' views on the prevalence of domestic violence and the characteristics of fathers attending fatherhood programs, barriers to…
The Bush administration has proposed several initiatives to improve child well-being by increasing marriage and father involvement. Research supports the intent of the proposal to create a stable environment for children. This report expands on previous studies to examine differences in family structures by race and age. Data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families are presented for six categories of family relationships: child's birth parents are married; child's parents are divorced, but the father visits regularly; the child's biological parents have never married, but are…
Rates of births to teenage parents are high and there is also a high incidence of poor outcomes among the children of teenage parents including developmental and learning problems, and child maltreatment. Parenting programmes may have an important role to play in improving outcomes for both teenage parents and their children. The aim of this review was to examine the effectiveness of individual and/or group based parenting programmes in improving psychosocial and developmental outcomes in teenage mothers and their children. A range of biomedical and social science databases were searched.…
