This chapter describes a grant program spearheaded by the Sisters of Charity Foundation to reduce poverty by addressing fatherlessness in South Carolina. The foundation created a partnership with the University of South Carolina and concerned communities across South Carolina to analyze the fatherless problem, develop a plan for strategic action, and initiate a planning process. The process resulted in six funded programs representing an investment of $2.2 million by the Sisters of Charity Foundation. The majority of those served by programs will be African American men and their children.…
The effectiveness of fatherhood programs working with low-income and mostly noncustodial fathers are reviewed in this chapter, including results from the Children First program, eight federally funded demonstration projects designed to increase noncustodial parents access to their children, and the Parents Fair Share program. Lessons learned from the evaluations of these programs are shared. 30 references.
This book analyzes how the absence of African American fathers affects their children, their relationships, and society as a whole, while countering the notion that father absence and family fragmentation within the African American community is inevitable. It begins by offering possible explanations for the decline in marriage among African American families, including the limited economic prospects of many men who live in the inner city that impacts their ability to provide for a family. The book then considers marriage from an economic perspective, emphasizing that it is a wealth-producing…
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 book contains expanded version of papers presented at the Natcher Center of the National Institutes of Health in January 2002. The papers address the consequences of imprisonment and reentry for individual prisoners, their families, and the communities to which these prisoners return. Preceded by an introductory chapter outlining current data on prisoners and their children and families, Part 1 examines the impact of prison itself. It examines the psychological impact of imprisonment, the experiences of women prisoners, and the ability of prison programs to improve the ability of…
This toolkit offers insights to help deepen understanding of many of the customs and traditions that historically motivate Latino men and their families and provides a variety of practical tools, guidelines, and interventions to consider when constructing culturally relevant fatherhood programs. (Author abstract)
Using data from the Fragile Families study, this paper explores factors that influence paternal involvement in low-income families. 4873 fathers from the Fragile Families study were classified using CART (Classification and Regression Tree Analysis). CART is a nonparametric technique that allows many different factors to be combined in order to classify homogeneous subgroups within a sample. The CART analysis distinguished between residential and non-residential fathers. In addition, among residential fathers, race emerged as the distinguishing factor. For White men, residential status was…
The majority of African American children live in homes without their fathers, but the proportion of African American children living in intact, two-parent families has risen significantly since 1995. Black Fathers in Contemporary American Society looks at father absence from two sides, offering an in-depth analysis of how the absence of African American fathers affects their children, their relationships, and society as a whole, while countering the notion that father absence and family fragmentation within the African American community is inevitable. Editors Obie Clayton, Ronald B. Mincy,…
"The fathers may soar. And the children may know their names," Toni Morrison wrote. In Black Fathers, Kristin Clark Taylor takes this wisdom to heart. Focusing on the irreplaceable gifts fathers bring to their children's lives as well as on the untold joy that comes from fathering a child, she invites all black fathers -- those who soar, those who are only learning how to fly, and those whose wings have been temporarily clipped by circumstances or personal failure -- to celebrate themselves, heal the fissures that separate them from their children, and reclaim their place in the hearts and…
