This brief provides a general overview of four Responsible Fatherhood (RF) grantees involved in the Parents and Children Together Evaluation (PACT) Evaluation. The brief: 1) provides a general overview of two approaches to service delivery in fatherhood programs; 2) documents how service delivery is linked to fathers’ characteristics; and 3) describes how service delivery approach may be linked to program participation and retention rates. Data gathered via staff interviews, program observations conducted during site visits, ongoing interactions with leadership at each program, and data on service receipt from each programs’ management information system was used to create this brief. (author abstract)

Family living arrangements have shifted over time, and fewer children now reside with their fathers. This has led to an increasing focus on non-resident fathers’ support of and involvement with their children. This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to explore the connection between fathers’ financial support payments and their involvement in coparenting. Findings suggest that there is a reciprocal relationship between coparenting and the amount of fathers’ payments, with coparenting having a greater effect on payments than the effect that making payments has on coparenting.

This report from the Urban Institute provides early implementation findings from a study of six grantees that provide soon-to-be and recently-released fathers and their families with an array of activities and services in responsible fatherhood/parenting, healthy marriage/relationships, and economic stability. The goals of the programs are to help stabilize the fathers and their families, move the fathers toward self-sufficiency, and reduce recidivism. These OFA grantees began program operations in October 2011; this report covers program activity through May 2013. (author abstract)

In recent decades, policymakers have invested in responsible fatherhood programs in light of emerging research that strengthening parenting among fathers promotes positive child outcomes. This session will focus on how fatherhood programs and policies can better serve fathers, children, and their families. The panelists will discuss recent research on the changing dynamics of fatherhood in relationships and families, and opportunities for promoting father-child bonds among low-income men and boys of color. Ben O’Dell (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) will moderate this panel. Panelists are:

• Kathryn Edin (Johns Hopkins University)

• Timothy Nelson (Johns Hopkins University)

• David Pate (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) (conference program description)

This presentation was given at the 2014 Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference (WREC).