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Training Materials This interactive curriculum was developed by Parents as Teachers National Center. The 12 sections of Focus on Fathering target child development, connecting with your child, parenting apart, healthy relationships, and more. Each section contains goals, activities, discussion points, materials, and procedures and guidance for practitioners working with the families involved.
This Resource Guide was written to support service providers in their work with parents, caregivers, and their children to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect. The guide includes information about protective factors that help reduce the risk of child maltreatment, strategies for changing how communities support families, and evidence-informed practices. It also offers suggestions for enhancing protective factors in families, tools to build awareness and develop community partnerships, information about child abuse and neglect, a directory of national organizations that…
Brief
Aiming to disprove the stereotype that paints all teen fathers as uncaring and irresponsible, this book provides young dads with parenting advice geared especially to them. The guide reveals that the reality can be quite different for many young fathers if they have a chance to parent their child and if appropriate support services are offered. These useful tips for young dads--including taking as much responsibility as they can, knowing their rights, and ultimately finding joy in their parenting role--help shape teens who are far less likely to run from their responsibilities. In this…
Over 1.5 million children in this country currently have one or both of their parents incarcerated. In addition to the trauma of this loss, these children face tremendous uncertainty in their living arrangements, relationships with loved ones, and family financial stability. Short-term coping responses and heavy stigma are common, both of which may lead to long-term emotional and behavioral challenges. This report reviews the current research on children with incarcerated parents and offers recommendations on how to reduce the negative impact of parental incarceration, with particular…
Most foster children are not living with their fathers at the time they are removed from their homes. While in foster care these children may experience even less contact with their nonresident fathers. This study examined child welfare practices with respect to identifying, locating, and involving fathers of children in foster care including whether child support resources were used. Local agency caseworkers were interviewed by phone about nearly 2,000 foster children in four study states. The study found that nonresident fathers are not often involved in case planning and nearly half were…
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Journal Article During a pilot qualitative study about children's views of Child Protective Services (CPS) investigations, the problem for study broadened to include children's views of the transition to foster care generally. Findings indicated that (1) the CPS investigation was not an emotionally charged topic for these respondents, and (2) respondents were ambivalent about foster care, liking many aspects while also missing birth parents. Respondents (most in care for the first time) were in care for nonemergency reasons, and for brief periods (1 to 5 months). These circumstances may have influenced the…
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Journal Article Emerging adulthood is a phase in the life course recently identified by development theorists. For youth in foster care, recent federal legislation in the United States has engendered new programs, typically called independent living programs, to help them become successful adults. This qualitative study reports the findings of interviews with a diverse sample of 27 current and former foster youths in a Midwestern state, focusing on the quantity and quality of independent living services received. The youths reported hopeful expectations and plans for their futures, widspread support for…
Recent policies encourage the development of programs designed to improve the economic status of low-income nonresident fathers and the financial and emotional support provided to their children. This brief provides ten key lessons from several important early responsible fatherhood initiatives that were developed and implemented during the 1990s and early 2000s. Formal evaluations of these earlier fatherhood efforts have been completed making this an opportune time to step back and assess what has been learned and how to build on the early programs' successes and challenges. (Author…
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Journal Article Federal initiatives encourage social service agencies to engage fathers and strengthen families, but little research is available to guide administrative action. This survey among 339 fathers and 1,203 social services workers targets policy development. Gaps between father and worker perceptions, that imply limited or misunderstanding, were found. Although fathers perceived agency intervention as helpful, they requested more case-specific help and father-centered services. Social service workers valued father input, but struggled to navigate parental conflicts. Findings suggest needs for…
Brief
"What works" in fatherhood programs? As the responsible fatherhood field continues to grow, an increasing number of programs have been put into place to improve fathers' involvement with children and families. While several studies have examined the effects of programs on outcomes for fathers and their families, results of these studies vary, as does the quality and rigor of research methods. Only rigorous evaluations of programs can provide evidence of whether or not programs have the desired effect. Fortunately, the existence of several rigorous evaluations of recent fatherhood and…
