This brief looks at child welfare agencies' reliance on kin, that is, relatives, to care for children who may otherwise need to be in state custody. In most states, these agencies use voluntary kinship arrangements on a fairly limited basis when…

To help provide information on states' experiences related to the goal of reducing nonmarital births, and the factors that helped shape state policies, this study examines, in two parts, state perspectives and experiences regarding nonmarital…

Although there are exceptions, research indicates that children raised in single-parent families are at greater risk of living in poverty and of developing social, behavioral and academic problems than are children raised in married-parent…

This report examines the child support system with relation to low-income fathers. By improving service delivery and up front case management, father child support can be increased, which can affect outcomes for children. Additionally, this…

The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) funded this project to learn about the status of policies to support and promote marriage at the state level. Policies were inventoried that were enacted and proposed both prior to PRWORA…

ACF Pacific Hub's 2-day “Strengthening Families” conference drew more than 435 community, State, Tribal, and national leaders to Seattle to hear and discuss ways to implement ACF's new family initiatives. The conference featured more than 30…

A four-paper series. These papers examine the economic returns to marriage, include a literature review, and review new empirical findings using three different data sets and a variety of statistical models.

This paper reviews the critical role that responsible fatherhood plays in improving outcomes for children and families. It first reviews the history of how the fatherhood "field" took shape in the late 1960s to 1980s, and then, reviews the…

This report provides information on why fathers matter, the role of non-resident fathers, strategies for involving non-resident fathers, and resources on fathers and families.

A National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) publication entitled "Broke But Not Deadbeat: Reconnecting Low-Income Fathers and Children" addresses the circumstances faced by low-income fathers who are not able to meet their required child…