Ten key findings from responsible fatherhood initiatives

Indebted Relationships: Child Support Arrears and Nonresident Fathers' Involvement With Children

“…We also go beyond establishing this empirical link by providing insight into three pathways—the quality of the fathers' relationship with biological mothers, their work effort, and mental health—through which child support arrears could hinder paternal involvement. Prior research, though limited, suggests that child support debt could operate through each of these mechanisms (Cancian et al, ; DeKlyen et al, ; Hutson, ; Martinson & Nightingale, ; Miller & Mincy, ; Waller & Plotnick, ). We find that these three mediational pathways collectively account for a substantial share of the association between having child support arrears and involvement (18% to 27%) and between the amount of arrears owed and involvement (14% to 19%) across our three outcome measures.…”

“…Many mothers report that fathers will provide less parenting and in‐kind support for children if they are threatened by punitive child support enforcement actions, and fathers report communicating these intentions to the mother. Reviewing multisite evaluations of responsible fatherhood programs, Martinson and Nightingale (, p. 3) concluded: “Poor fathers often face child support orders that are set at levels they cannot pay; their orders are rarely modified during periods of unemployment, and they can accrue unrealistic levels of debt. This may motivate fathers to lose contact with their families and evade the child support system” [emphasis added].…”

Policies That Strengthen Fatherhood and Family Relationships: What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know?

“…The older men in the program often had more stable lives and jobs but faced substantial struggles when they tried to reconnect with their children after years of living apart (Johnson, Levine, and Doolittle 1999). Consistent with these reports, program operators often indicate that, despite the conceptual appeal of targeting younger couples or fathers, extremely disadvantaged young men can be particularly challenging to engage in responsible fatherhood programs (Martinson and Nightingale 2008).…”

“…There have been few impact evaluations of responsible fatherhood programs, and implementation studies of these programs have consistently highlighted the significant challenges of changing the employment and family relationship patterns for lowincome noncustodial fathers (Martinson and Nightingale 2008). We offer some suggestions for ingredients of the next generation of multicomponent responsible fatherhood programs based on what has been learned to date.…”

“…Throughout the history described above, shifts in funding among these three priorities at the federal level resulted in a "swinging pendulum" effect, creating uncertainties that undermined efforts of community-based nonprofits and other providers of direct services to build high-quality, research-based programs (Martinson and Nightingale 2008). Reducing the influence of the swinging pendulum would provide an important foundation for building evidence-based services for families.…”