Until communities offer multiple pathways to connect with ladders of opportunity, many young families headed by out-of-school and out-of-work (OSOW) youth will be unable to achieve financial independence. To break the cycle of poverty, many human service organizations use two-generation approaches with "young families" (that is, families with children in which the parent is an OSOW young person ages 15-24 years). One hallmark of these two-generation approaches is the use of strategies that address the developmental needs of the young parents, their children, and the families as a whole. The…
Brief
This brief highlights programs that are re-thinking services for children and families based on the science of early childhood development and understanding of the consequences of adverse early experiences and toxic stress. Efforts by Acelero Learning in New York City, the Westside Infant-Family Network in Los Angeles, and Catholic Community Services of the Mid-Willamette Valley and Central Cost in Oregon are described.
The situation of high unemployment for black men is not new. It has persisted for decades, and scholars, sociologists, economists, policy makers, and advocates have brought attention to various aspects of this challenge and put forth solutions. Yet, it is seemingly an intractable situation. In 2012, three years after the end of the recession, the black male unemployment rate was in the double digits for every age category up to age 65. This was not the case for any other racial group. In 2010, half of working black men were employed in the two occupational clusters with the lowest average…
Other
This profile finds a wide variation in the share of children living with two married biological parents. Approximately 59% of these children reside in half of the U.S.' states. Children living with two married biological parents comprise the largest share in the Western region (top 25%), while children residing in the Southern region comprise the smallest share (bottom 25%). (Author abstract)
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Journal Article Substantial declines in employment and earnings among disadvantaged men may be exacerbated by child support enforcement policies that are designed to help support families but may have the unintended consequence of discouraging fathers' employment. Disentangling causal effects is challenging because high child support debt may be both a cause and a consequence of unemployment and low child support order compliance. We used childbirth costs charged in unmarried mothers' Medicaid-covered childbirths, from Wisconsin administrative records, as an exogenous source of variation to identify the…
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Journal Article Aim. To explore the experiences of prospective adolescent fathers regarding their impending fatherhood. Background. Several studies indicate adolescent fatherhood is associated with multiple risk factors. Despite this, it is well documented that these young males have a potentially vital role in the lives of their child/ren and partners. Adolescent pregnancy has often been viewed with a particular emphasis on the mother and relatively little is known about the experiences and expectations of young males facing imminent fatherhood. Design. Narrative methods were used to collect qualitative…
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Journal Article What do fathers teach their sons, how do sons learn? This paper considers the way boys develop, become men, specifically with regard to their relationships with their fathers or indeed any other male authority figures they come into contact with. The material examined is a mix of the author's own biographical experience, a clinical vignette and a film--The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005). In all three, the development of young men is considered with particular emphasis on how 'sons' manage the urge to love the father, to placate him, with a need to hate him, to triumph over him.…
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Journal Article Intervention programs aiming to support fathers' parenting skills with young children need a practical, but psychometrically sound, observational measure of fathers' parenting interactions. The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the Parenting Interactions with Children--Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO) measure for use with fathers, and to explore whether additional observational father-behavior items derived from father research and theory would strengthen those psychometric properties. The 29 original PICCOLO items and 44 additional…
Father School: Step by Step is a guide on how to set and run male groups that prepare fathers-to-be for the birth of their babies and teach them to be actively engaged in their children's upbringing following the principles of shared equal responsibility with children's mothers. This manual continues UNICEF tradition of publishing guidelines by nonprofit, nongovernmental, or public organizations and social services that use gender-sensitive methods in their social work. In 2009, the UNICEF Representation Office in Ukraine published Tato-Shkola: Yak Stvoriti Ta Zabezpechiti Stale…
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Training Materials This manual contains tested group education modules intended for fathers and their partners, most often spouses, in the plantation region (or tea estates) of Sri Lanka. It offers a series of tested activities and group discussions that provide a strong foundation for addressing and transforming norms within families, communities, and, of course, masculinity, and aims to promote gender equality within the home and children's healthy development and overall well-being. (Author abstract)
