BACKGROUND for Project
High divorce rates, out-of-wedlock
births and incarceration among Black fathers have led to a decline in the
involvement of fathers in the lives of their children. It is estimated
that one-third of the children in the United States live in a household headed
by a single parent. Compared to children raised in two-parent families,
children raised by a single parent are more likely to be poor and to
experience several negative outcomes. In particular, children raised in
poverty are more likely to experience developmental delays, poor health, low
educational attainment, higher school dropout rates, increased risk of
juvenile delinquency and substance abuse, and higher rates of teenage
pregnancy. These risk factors can be reduced if children have strong family bonds.
In particular, research suggests that children benefit from positive
relationships not only with their mothers, but also with their fathers, even
if they do not share the same residence. Social programs in the past
have focused on the provision of services to poor children in families headed
by single mothers, neglecting the needs of these children’s fathers. Recent
studies suggest that poor children tend to have low-income fathers who face
substantial barriers to employment, and that their limited access to services
may prevent them from financial and emotional involvement with their
children.
In view of these findings, welfare
reform goals to increase compliance with child support payment are unlikely
to take place unless Federal and state agencies provide low-income fathers
with programs that increase their employability and parental skills. In
recent years, programs that address the needs of non-custodial parents have
gained in importance, as practitioners and researchers have become aware of
the barriers to responsible fatherhood. As fathers are able to meet their
child support payments, they also are more likely to become emotionally
connected to their children, thus reducing the risks of negative outcomes
among our youngest generations. In addition, increasing the payments of
non-custodial parents to their families will help to eradicate child poverty.
Central to effective programs
addressing the complex needs of non-custodial parents is the collaboration of
agencies, organizations and fatherhood initiatives to respond to inhabitants
that impede non-custodial fathers’ involvement in their children’s lives. The
current project, Non-Custodial Fathers of TANF Children Reconnecting with
their Children and their Civic Responsibilities: A Follow-Up Study,
attempts to access the present status (social, legal, and psychological) of
former program participants, and to analytically determine the level of
success IAWF programming had on their lives by assisting them in becoming
more engaged and responsible fathers in their children’s daily lives, thus
better citizens of the community.
PROJECT CONCLUSIONS:
Based upon the overall evaluation
process, participant and staff feedback, and project outcomes, Non-Custodial
Fathers Re-Connecting with their Children and their Civic Responsibilities: a
Follow-Up Study, met its goals and objectives. The primary anticipated
benefit of this project was to be able to draw on the experience of
non-custodial fathers from a wide variety of backgrounds to help create a
culturally relevant training model that is transferable to non-custodial
fathers worldwide; and to assess how well IAWF did in re-uniting male
non-custodial fathers in the project with their children. The richness of
IAWF programming was seen in the benefits rendered to a vulnerable population
that historically experienced little to no ongoing contact with their
children and or were burdened with legal entanglements. The reunification
process and the personal development of the men who participated in this
program were life changing events. Non-custodial fathers profited from these
experiences and learned to avoid a few of the pitfalls that inevitably occur
in estranged relationships.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Based on the overall evaluation process, the Institute for the Advancement of
Working Families (IAWF) submits the following recommendations:
- Implement a three-tier supportive environment for
non-custodial fathers and their families: social and legal services,
legislation and policy advocacy, and include education on family matters
for all fatherhood initiatives.
- Implement early entry and prevention strategies, such
as reaching males before they become fathers as well as accessing
fathers who are incarcerated, in halfway houses, state facilities, and
other settings where they may not normally have access to available
resources and information about fatherhood initiatives.
- For the immediate future, establish Memorandum of
Understandings with and between Fatherhood Initiative Programs
throughout the State of Pennsylvania so that services may become
complimentarily, substantive, and reach a larger service area.
- Close the racial and discriminatory divide for
services between racial, cultural and ethnically diverse non-custodial
fathers and their children and families through a coordinated program of
engagement.
- Close the gender service gap between custodial
parents .
- Utilize a phased approach with major deliverables to
non-custodial fathers and their children and families, rolled out every
six to nine months, over a four-year period. This will firmly establish
the sustainability of life skills, education, employment and
self-sufficiency of non-custodial fathers and will assist in the
eradication of poverty among children and families.
|