The Children's Commission of Queensland in Australia is working with the Queensland Government's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Board to strengthen Indigenous families affected by the incarceration of a father. Indigenous people are imprisoned at a rate that is 13 times that of the non-Indigenous population. Many of the incarcerated men are fathers with children who experience the grief of parental separation, financial difficulties, and social stigma from the community. Recognizing that attempts to support Indigenous people must be designed in the context of cultural…
The commissioner of the first independent commission on children in Australia, established in Queensland in 1996, presents an overview of the agency's child and family welfare efforts and describes a new program to encourage support for fathers. The aim of the Focus on Fathering Project is to increase understanding about the importance of fathers in children's lives and to promote fathering education and support programs. The program takes a multidisciplinary approach to the problems of fatherless children and high-risk families, with a strong educational aspect and a research component to…
This study examines the role and influence of fathers and father figures in the lives of African American adolescent girls (N=302) from a representative sample of poor and low-income families. Sixty five percent of the adolescents identified a primary father, of whom two-thirds were biological fathers and one-third were father figures. Adolescent girls reported more contentious and less close relationships with biological fathers than with father figures. Multivariate regression analyses indicated that fathers' emotional disengagement predicted greater depressive symptomatology and behavioral…
This report is the latest in a series based on the 1997 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities. Results of the survey show that in 1999 state and federal prisons held an estimated 721,500 parents of minor children. A majority of state (55 percent) and federal (63 percent) prisoners reported having a child under the age of 18. Forty-six percent of the parents reported living with their children prior to incarceration. The survey estimates that 336,300 U.S. households with minor children are affected by the imprisonment of a resident parent. The parents reported having…
The third in a series of biennial reports describes state programs and efforts intended to promote healthy child development and family relationships, school readiness, and economic security. State profiles highlight programs funded in fiscal year 2000 that focus on child development and family relationships in the general population. Policies regarding wage and income supports, child care assistance, and health and nutrition assistance also are identified as initiatives supporting economic security. Nationwide, the states utilized four types of programs to serve infants and toddlers and…
This report serves three purposes: to provide a record of the January 13, 2000 dialogue held with community providers of services for Hispanic fathers, national Hispanic organizations, literacy programs and advocates for fatherhood; to provide information to service providers that may be helpful in designing and implementing programs that promote Hispanic fathers involvement in child and adult educational achievement; and to encourage conversations within Hispanic communities and among service providers about how to strengthen the roles of Hispanic fathers in their childrens lives. (Author…
