NATIONAL CENTER FOR CHILDREN IN POVERTY - NEW REPORT: MAP AND TRACK: STATE INITIATIVES TO ENCOURAGE RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD

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NATIONAL CENTER FOR CHILDREN IN POVERTY - NEW REPORT: MAP AND TRACK: STATE INITIATIVES TO ENCOURAGE RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD

by Jane Knitzer, Ed.D. and Stanley N. Bernard, M.P.H.

Just before Father's Day 1997, the National Center for Children in Poverty released its newest report, Map and Track: State Initiatives To Encourage Responsible Fatherhood. The report paints a picture of the demographic and economic realities of fatherhood, highlighting changing trends over the past twenty years. It also maps, on a state-by-state basis, the level of state activity to promote responsible fatherhood, from both an economic and nurturing perspective. The report was written by NCCP in collaboration with the Council of Governors' Policy Advisors and the National Center on Fathers and Families at the University of Pennsylvania. It was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

FINDINGS

Some findings of particular interest in Map and Track: Fathers include:

There was a surprising level of activity around a fatherhood agenda in the states. All fifty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico report some activity around promoting responsible fatherhood in at least one of the five areas highlighted in the report: (1) increasing public awareness about responsible fatherhood, (2) preventing too-early or unwanted fatherhood, (3) promoting fathers' ability to contribute to their children's economic security, (4) encouraging fathers to be care givers and nurturers of their children, and (5) building community and state leadership capacity around a fatherhood agenda.
Although the majority (two-thirds) of children in the U.S. do grow up in families with their fathers present, the composition of the American family is rapidly changing. There has been a 9 percent decrease two-parent families over the past twenty years while the number of children growing up in families without fathers has increased by 56 percent. Startlingly, over the past twenty-years, there has been a 220 percent increase in the number of children growing up in single-parent father families.
States are responding to the new welfare law by focusing attention on child support enforcement activities such as in-hospital paternity establishment, driver and professional license revocation, allowing noncustodial parents to participate in jobs-training and jobs-linking services, and offering welfare benefits to two-parent families. Many states are also planning special visitation and mediation programs along with counseling on the impact on children for divorcing parents.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Taken together, the findings from this report suggest there is widespread interest at the state level in promoting responsible fatherhood and linking it with other state priorities, as well as with community mobilization and public-private partnerships. To that end, the report concludes with a series of recommendations intended to increase the leadership capacity within the states and encourage strategies that enhance fathers in their roles as economic providers and as nurturers.

FOR COPIES

Map and Track: Fathers is 180 pages and includes graphs, trend tables, maps of state responses, state and national contacts, boxes highlighting state initiatives, and demographic charts on fatherhood. Copies are available prepaid for $19.95 from the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University's School of Public Health, 154 Haven Avenue, New York, NY 10032. Checks should be made payable to Columbia University. Contact the Center via e-mail at nccp@columbia.edu or call NCCP Publications at (212)-304-7119 for further information.

For Other Info:
National Center on Children in Poverty
Columbia University School of Public Health
Receptionist: 212-304-7100; Fax: 212-544-4200
E-mail: nccp@columbia.edu