This Casey Family Programs issue brief looks at the use of peer mentors (“parent partners”) who work with parents entering in and engaging with the child welfare system. These parent partners have already encountered and worked with the child welfare system themselves, and the mentoring that they offer can encourage and instill hope for parents initially interacting with the system. The brief outlines these parent partner programs’ benefits and program research evaluation findings, and provides guidance on how these programs are structured and funded. It also provides brief summaries of three parent partner programs: Parents Anonymous^®, the Kentucky Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Team (START) Program, and Iowa’s Parent Partner Program.

Noncustodial parents (NCPs) want to be positively involved in their children’s lives but often face obstacles, including legal issues and inability to attain economic security and to pay child support consistently. In a recent Information Memorandum, the Administration for Children and Families reminded jurisdictions of their ability to use TANF funds to provide employment services to noncustodial parents to help needy families provide for their children and rise out of poverty.

An Office of Family Assistance (OFA)-sponsored webinar on June 26, 2019 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET will feature a panel of programs using TANF funds to serve NCPs: the Ohio Fatherhood Commission, South Carolina Department of Fathers and Families, which fund community programs for fathers and families and advocate for “father-friendly” policies and practices in state agencies, and Fathers Support Center of St. Louis, which will share its experiences of directly engaging fathers to improve family and economic security. A presenter from the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement will also talk about programs for fathers and NCPs who have alternate funding sources. These programs and agencies participated in a scan to identify promising approaches to using TANF funds to serve noncustodial parents. The scan is being conducted by ASPIRE (Assisting Special Populations to Improve Readiness and Engagement), an OFA-sponsored project; an ASPIRE representative will share project highlights and moderate the panel.

The Aspen Institute’s ASCEND program will host a webinar on June 13, 2019 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss investing in fathers to enhance the well-being of children. The webinar will cover the importance of mothers and fathers, trends in policy to address the needs of 21^st century families, and partnerships to connect justice-involved families as they return to their communities. Speakers include representatives from the GOOD+ Foundation, the Center for Urban Families, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and DC Central Kitchen.