In this brief from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, strategies used by Responsible Fatherhood reentry programs to enhance the fathers’ parenting skills are discussed, such as building knowledge of child development, increasing communication, and providing assistance with child support. Also included are recommendations for practitioners who offer responsible parenting services to reentry populations.

Child abuse prevention programs have begun to focus on strengthening families to prevent abuse, as opposed to only targeting risk factors. Father involvement with children is one of these protective factors and is associated with improved child well-being. This brief from the Child & Family Research Partnership discusses the relationship between involved fathers and protective factors against abuse in families, including knowledge of parenting and connection to social supports.

In this three-part podcast series, the Child Welfare Information Gateway presents information about the importance of father involvement in the lives of children, as well as suggestions for engaging fathers and working with fatherhood organizations. In Parts 1 and 2, leaders from fatherhood organizations share some benefits of father involvement, tips for locating local noncustodial fathers, and insights into the perspective of fathers. In Part 3, a partnership between a child welfare agency and fatherhood program in South Carolina is discussed.

Mathematica Policy Research, as part of an evaluation of the Parents and Children Together study, conducted a qualitative study of fathers who voluntarily participated in Responsible Fatherhood programs. Many of these fathers struggled with unstable employment and low wages, which complicated their ability to financially support their children, despite a desire to do so. The findings show some of the challenges fathers experience when dealing with child support systems, and the report makes suggestions for service providers about how to help fathers address them.

The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study suggests that fathers are more likely to struggle with depression when they do not have full-time employment, live apart from their children, have children with two or more women, or have been incarcerated. This tip sheet from the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse helps fatherhood programs best serve fathers who may be dealing with depression.

Reading is linked to children’s cognitive development, academic skills, and future employment opportunities. Research suggests that fathers are particularly influential for children’s language and literacy development. This brief from the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse provides programs with ideas to inspire fathers to read with their children.

Cultural competence refers to “a set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that can be developed over time in order to work with those who appear and may be different from us.” This addition to the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse’s Responsible Fatherhood Toolkit provides tips for programs to integrate cultural competence into their activities and service delivery.

This brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) presents information from a multi-site study of the impact of incarceration on father-child relationships. The findings indicate that fewer fathers lived with or financially supported their children after release than before incarceration. Fathers who had more contact with their children during incarceration were more likely to live with their children after release, as were fathers who had happier relationships with their children’s mothers. Also, fathers of younger children reported higher parental warmth and better relationship quality with their children than fathers of older children.

A recent symposium focused specifically on low-income urban men for several reasons. First, nearly two-thirds of young low-educated men are fathers, and fathers represent an important potential source of family income and financial support for children. Next, since 2000, low-income urban men have retreated from employment as median wages for low-skilled workers have dropped and their incarceration rate has shot up. Finally, research on the 1990s' welfare reforms focused on disadvantaged single women with children, whereas relatively little attention has been paid to disadvantaged men. Despite their importance to families and society, the plight of urban men with a high school education or less has not been widely documented. This brief from the Institute for Research on Poverty highlights this demographic, the trends affecting them, and promising practices to improve their lives and the lives of their children.