The UK continues to top the league table for the highest rate of teenage births in Western Europe. Although data is collected on the mothers of these babies little is recorded on their fathers. This research seeks to help to redress that balance as it examines five projects across England which worked with young fathers from 2002-2004, affording not only those who ran the project a voice, but also the young fathers themselves.This report is an evaluation of TSA's Young Fathers Project, a two-year pilot that ended in March 2004. It was funded by the Family Support Grant, formerlyadministered…
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In recent years there has been considerable research from the US on positive outcomes for children whose fathers become ‘involved’ in their care. The purpose of a UK study carried out by Drs. Eirini Flouri and Ann Buchanan at the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford, was to discover whether there was similar evidence in the UK using longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS). NCDS is an ongoing longitudinal study of some 17,000 children who were born in England, Wales and Scotland in one week in 1958. These children have been followed up at…
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This issue of a newsletter for child welfare workers in Colorado describes strategies for developing a rapport with families from other cultures, fathers, and teens. The articles review the importance of client-worker collaboration to the success of assessments and services. Professionals who are working with culturally diverse families are advised to learn about values and experiences from a variety of resources, including parents themselves. Cultural differences should be respected and integrated into treatment when appropriate. Techniques for including fathers in casework include…
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This paper briefly summarizes the research on fathers and their children's development, describes some new directions for programs to promote men's involvement that are suggested by the results, and describes a father involvement program launched recently by the California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP). (Author abstract)
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Journal Article This article describes Fit 2-B FATHERS, a social and parenting skills program for males in the corrections system that has been found to improve participants attitudes about themselves, their role as fathers, and their understanding of positive parenting practices. The program is designed to help participants become less of a security risk during the remainder of their sentence and reduce rates of recidivism following their release. Components of the program are discussed, as are results from a study of 227 participating inmates. Results indicate a statistically significant program impact on…
This interview study is part of a larger evaluation that P/PV is conducting of the Fathers at Work demonstration, which enrolled 1,222 men across the six sites. The full study will assess program outcomes, using surveys administered to all participants at the time of their enrollment and again 12 to 18 months later. In order to gain a more detailed understanding of the participants' lives, P/PV undertook an in-depth interview study of a sample of 37 Fathers at Work participants from three of the six sites. As the men began sharing their stories with P/PV interviewers, it became clear that,…
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Journal Article This study examined 80 men to determine if their relationship with their fathers during childhood/adolescence could predict self-esteem in adulthood. Adult men's perceptions of their fathers were measured using the Fatherhood Scale (FS). Using logistic regression, the type of relationship with the father, the subject's education, subject's father's education, parental divorce, and whether they lived with their father during childhood/adolescence correctly classified 75% of the men in the predicted self-esteem group. Results indicate significant differences in self-reported measures of…
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Identifies programs in the U.S. and Canada that offer services specifically for children and families of adult offenders. Each entry provides the following information: telephone, address, e-mail, website, contact person(s), area served, year established, publications, and a brief description of the program and its services. (Author abstract)
This report describes the activities and outcomes of the Fatherhood Initiative in South Carolina. The initiative funded ten fatherhood programs in twelve sites across the State. The report discusses the characteristics of the participants, barriers that are faced by fathers, components of the fatherhood programs, and the success of the programs. Findings from the initiative indicate 60% of the 2,437 men who entered the program were unemployed, and 55% did not have a high school degree. As a result of being in the program, 408 obtained employment, 214 improved their earnings, 597 received job…
Brief
This issue brief discusses State development and implementation of marriage education programs to strengthen families and improve outcomes for children. It describes the objectives of the programs and types of programs, and notes research results that indicate children raised in two-parent homes with low conflict levels have a lower risk of both academic and behavioral issues and exhibit greater stability in their own relationships as adults. Strategies States and localities can use to fund marriage education are explained, and lessons learned from State and local programs are shared. Lessons…
