Children benefit from having involved fathers, but it can be difficult to quantify a father’s level of involvement. This study compares the amount of father involvement reported by mothers with what the fathers themselves report. The researchers used data from 113 fathers and 126 mothers to assess father involvement, and they found that fathers reported significantly higher levels of involvement than mothers. When mothers reported a more positive relationship with fathers, the discrepancy in reported levels of involvement was smaller, while single mothers reported a greater level of discrepancy than married mothers. The authors emphasized the importance of obtaining reports of father involvement directly from fathers.

This report describes four Responsible Fatherhood programs that focus primarily on low-income Hispanic fathers:

1. Futuro Now from KidWorks, a partner of The East Los Angeles Community Union, in Santa Ana, California
2. Project Fatherhood at The Children’s Institute, Inc., in Los Angeles County, California
3. Project Padres at Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program in Imperial County, California
4. Responsible Fatherhood Program at Southwest Key in San Antonio, Texas

This study provides information about how these federally funded programs are implemented in a culturally relevant way and insights into the participating fathers’ program experiences. (author abstract)

This brief summarizes findings from a qualitative research study that explored the strategies five home visiting programs use to engage fathers and the fathers’ experiences with the programs. Interviews with program staff and clients revealed that young fathers’ motivations to participate are similar to those of older and experienced fathers, and that they benefit similarly from the program. However, young fathers present unique challenges, including relationship instability, family resistance, logistics, and developmental immaturity. The lessons programs shared may help other programs that serve low-income families in their efforts to engage young fathers. (author abstract)

This report describes the major research investments of our Division of Family Strengthening through Fiscal Year 2015. This division has primary responsibility for research and evaluation projects related to strengthening relationships within families, supporting fatherhood, nurturing children through their families, reducing teen pregnancy, supporting youth in their transition to adulthood, and preventing family violence.

This report presents the research organized into six different sections, showing the breadth of our family strengthening research. These sections include:

• Supporting Fatherhood
• Strengthening Relationships
• Nurturing Children Through Families
• Supporting Positive Youth Development And Reducing Teen Pregnancy
• Preventing Family Violence
• Other and Cross-Cutting Research (author abstract)

This PowerPoint presentation from the 2015 NAWRS workshop summarizes early lessons learned from the PACT evaluation, focusing on the process study of four Responsible Fatherhood programs.

This brief describes the experiences of a select group of home visiting programs in the United States that are engaging low-income fathers in services. Interviews with program staff and participating fathers and mothers highlight the approaches programs use, the challenges they face in engaging fathers, and the strategies they use to overcome these challenges. This information has implications for home visiting programs that wish to extend their services to fathers, as well as other programs that serve fathers, such as healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood programs. (author abstract)