# VII. Formation and Maintenance of Two-Parent Families

The 1996 welfare reform law provided States with a great amount of
flexibility in designing and implementing their programs. In designing
programs States were required to meet the goals Congress specified in
TANF. The four goals are to: (1) provide assistance to needy families so
that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of
relatives; (2) end the dependence of needy parents on government
benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; (3) prevent
and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish
annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of
these pregnancies; and (4) encourage the formation and maintenance of
two-parent families.

While welfare reform goals specifically mentioned promoting job
preparation, work and marriage; preventing and reducing the incidence of
out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and encouraging the formation and
maintenance of two-parent families, direct efforts related to goals
three and four have been minimal. In FY 2000, States expended less than
one percent of combined State and Federal expenditures on these goals.
One hundred two million dollars was spent on pregnancy prevention and
\$113 million was spent to promote marriage and reduce the incidence of
divorce.

Though the direct activities to date addressing family formation goals
in TANF have been very small, States are beginning to explore intensive
programs and policies that hold promise for helping families and couples
build skills that can contribute significantly to forming strong,
healthy marriages. Below are some examples of these efforts.

## Family Formation Activities

-   Arizona\'s State legislature has established a Marriage and
    Communications Skills Commission. In addition the governor signed a
    bill that allocates \$1.65 million of TANF funds for: grants for
    community-based marriage and communication skills programs; vouchers
    for married or cohabiting parents whose income is less than 150
    percent of poverty to attend marriage skills training courses; and
    the development and printing of a marriage handbook by the Marriage
    and Communication Skills Commission.

-   In Oklahoma, the governor set aside \$10 million out of the TANF
    reserve fund to be used to strengthen marriages and reduce the
    incidence of divorce. Strategies include: statewide nurse home
    visiting programs to help strengthen and stabilize young parents\'
    relationships and promote marriage; training State employees and
    communities to offer education and relationship skills workshops;
    and piloting a married couples mentoring program to serve as a
    follow up support for couples participating the skills workshops.

-   Oklahoma's marriage initiative also includes training for TANF
    caseworkers so that they are able to discuss with clients the
    availability of marriage services and refer clients to relationship
    education. A two-day training is planned for the \"gate
    keepers,\"the State staff who will make referrals to the program.
    Training is planned for 80-100 DHS and other agency staff, as well
    as faith-based organizations. The training will include
    participation in portions of the Prevention and Relationship
    Enhancement (PREP) curriculum, which will be offered to TANF clients
    themselves.

-   Utah has a Governor\'s Commission that is focusing attention on
    strengthening marriages in Utah. The commission was charged with
    gathering information and studying the best marriage-strengthening
    practices in the country and then making recommendations to the
    governor and the first lady for actions that should be taken in
    Utah.

-   The Governor's Commission has been awarded \$600,000 from the Utah
    Department of Workforce Services for four specific projects designed
    to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

-   Michigan has implemented a number of pilot initiatives to reduce
    out-of-wedlock pregnancies and promote family formation. The pilots
    will be in five counties: Berrien County, Charlevoix/Emmet Counties,
    Genesee County, Kent County, and Wayne County/Detroit Medical
    Center. These communities will develop resources for classroom
    training and peer support. The curriculum will be developed by
    faith-based and other community-based organizations using TANF as
    the funding source. The pilots require the collaboration of the
    local TANF agency, hospitals, the local health department, and
    others in the community.

-   Virginia's Partners in Prevention program began in FY 1998 and
    receives \$1 million from TANF each year. The program educates young
    adults and teenagers on the benefits of waiting until marriage
    before a child is conceived. Strategies include media campaigns,
    direct intervention, and public forums. The Virginia Department of
    Health (VDH) sets general policy parameters, and then allows local
    coalitions the flexibility to design the precise delivery of
    services to meet the needs of their own communities. The VDH
    requests that applicants focus on areas such as: discouraging
    high-risk sexual behavior; delaying sexual involvement until
    marriage; discouraging cohabitation outside of marriage; encouraging
    marriage before a child is conceived; and encouraging male
    responsibility.

> Partners in Prevention works in cooperation with similar initiatives
> such as the Virginia Abstinence Education Initiative, the Virginia
> Fatherhood Campaign, and the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative.

Beyond the activities mentioned above, other States are addressing
family formation through State funded local programs. For example,
States are encouraging premarital education and taking other steps to
encourage marriage.

## Fatherhood Activities

It is not always possible of course, for children to be raised in
married two-parent families. In cases where children are raised in
single-parent households, it is still crucial for the health and
well-being of children for fathers to be emotionally and financially
involved in their children's lives. Therefore, it is important to help
fathers establish constructive, positive relationships with their
children. States are now operating a significant number of State and
federally funded initiatives aimed at improving father involvement in
the emotional and financial aspects of their children's lives.

About half of all States are using some of their TANF funds to promote
greater involvement by fathers in their children's lives. Included in
TANF funded programs are: activities that reconnect divorced, separated,
and other nonresident fathers with their children and help them be
better parents; employment related activities such as skill development,
job search, and career advancement that provide opportunities for
low-income fathers to financially support their children; and
relationship building activities that help never-married couples improve
their relationship both as couples and as parenting partners, including
considering the benefits of marriage. Below are specific examples of
State activities.

-   Arizona funds its statewide fatherhood initiative with TANF funds
    through contracts with local organizations to provide services. The
    State also funds mentoring programs for young fathers to assist them
    with parenting skills, employment, and visitation arrangements.

-   California is funding a seven county program targeted at fathers,
    based on proposals the counties had submitted to the State. Program
    participation is voluntary in some counties and mandatory in others.
    Sites offer a range of services around employment, including support
    services, (e.g., substance abuse), as well as courses in parenting
    skills, conflict management, relationship building and custody and
    visitation.

-   In Florida, the local WAGES (Work and Gain Economic
    Self-Sufficiency) coalitions that administer the TANF program are
    funding programs targeting fathers, including employment-focused
    programs that require that fathers who are delinquent in child
    support find work or go to jail. Another project targets fathers of
    Head Start children for help with computer training, entrepreneurial
    skills and self-empowerment. Additionally \$10 million in TANF funds
    are being administered by the Florida Commission on Responsible
    Fatherhood to fund local efforts to help fathers remain involved
    with their children.

-   Georgia\'s Fatherhood Program helps parents who are unable to pay
    their child support. The program offers job placement, vocational
    training, counseling, a chance to earn a GED and the opportunity to
    play a supportive role in the lives of their children. Georgia\'s
    Department of Human Resources, Child Support Enforcement office has
    contracted with the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult
    Education to provide the training and other services at each of
    Georgia\'s 33 technical institutions and at three colleges with
    technical divisions. This makes the Fatherhood Program available
    within 50 miles of every Georgian.

-   Indiana is using TANF funds for administrative costs associated with
    outreach to fathers, and to support community-based efforts that
    promote responsible fatherhood. TANF funds are also used to fund
    projects that establish or expand effective father involvement
    strategies that serve to promote fathers\' emotional and financial
    involvement in their children\'s lives.

-   Iowa is using TANF funds for its Parental Obligation Program. This
    program is intended to help parents, especially fathers living apart
    from their children, to develop and maintain relationships with
    their children and meet their full range of paternal
    responsibilities. In collaboration with existing community
    resources, an array of services is provided that includes: family
    counseling; legal services; mediation; job training; substance abuse
    treatment; health maintenance; and personal mentoring.

-   Michigan provides employment services to noncustodial parents who
    are unemployed or underemployed in order to enable them to meet
    their responsibilities to support their children.

-   Missouri is expanding its Parents' Fair Share (PFS) Program
    statewide. Missouri\'s PFS program is based on the idea that both
    parents are responsible for supporting their children, both
    emotionally and financially. To participate in the program, an
    individual must: live in the State; be a noncustodial parent; be
    unemployed or underemployed; and be at least 18 years old. Parents'
    Fair Share offers a wide range of fatherhood-related services
    including parenting education, peer support, and substance abuse
    intervention.

-   Mississippi has proposed using TANF funds for new initiatives to
    increase the involvement of fathers in the lives of their children
    and to provide supportive services to help fathers become more
    self-sufficient.

-   North Carolina and Ohio are allowing counties to submit proposals to
    run their own fatherhood programs with TANF funds.

-   Tennessee has been using TANF funds for its fatherhood pilot project
    in Davidson County (Nashville) since implementation of its
    waiver/TANF plan in 1996.

-   West Virginia\'s Bureau for Children and Families (the TANF agency),
    the West Virginia Court of Appeals, the Human Resource Development
    Foundation, Inc., and the Domestic Violence Coalition have formed a
    partnership to fund and support a four-county pilot initiative
    called Parents Work-Families Win. Beginning in October 2000, the
    pilot project will operate in four counties: Monongalia, Preston,
    Wyoming, and Raleigh. The project is designed to assist noncustodial
    parents who are unable to meet their child support obligations
    because of underemployment or unemployment. The objective of the
    program is to assist noncustodial parents in obtaining and retaining
    employment. In order to qualify for the project, the parent\'s child
    or children must have received or must currently be receiving a
    public assistance check, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Social Security, or
    be covered by the Children\'s Health Insurance Program. Eligible
    participants will be offered assistance with employment,
    transportation, special clothing needs, car repairs and insurance,
    professional license, counseling and relocation services if
    necessary.

## Promoting Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage

The Bush Administration's FY 2003 budget proposes \$200 million to
promote innovative approaches to strengthening families and promoting
healthy marriages. \$100 million would fund research and demonstrations
and provide technical assistance. \$100 million would fund a competitive
grant program to a limited number of states, territories, and tribal
organizations. A dollar-for-dollar match to participate in this program
will be required.

In an effort to increase non-custodial parents\' involvement in their
children\'s lives, the 1996 welfare reform law authorized grants to help
States establish programs that support and facilitate non-custodial
parents\' visitation and access to their children. In October 1997, DHHS
announced the first award of \$10 million in grants to all 50 States,
the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories to promote access and
visitation programs. The minimum allotment for FY 2000 was \$100,000 per
State. The minimum allotment for FY 2001 was also \$100,000 per State.

Most States focused their Access and Visitation grants upon the
following goals: 1) increasing visitation between non-custodial parents
and their children; 2) improving child well-being; 3) strengthening
non-custodial parents as nurturers; and 4) improving the relationship
between non-custodial and custodial parents. States pursued a wide range
of services. The most often provided services were mediation and
supervised visitation. Other major services provided included
development of parenting plans, parenting education, and neutral drop
off and pick up sites.

DHHS has also awarded funds for a number of studies and demonstrations
including:

-   an assessment of ways to improve the design of the child support
    program to increase payments, discourage \'default\' or \'no-show\'
    orders, and reduce arrearages;

-   the development of computerized technologies to facilitate quick
    State/local access to income data in the New Hires Register and the
    State Employment Security Administration data;

-   an assessment related to improved child support policies for
    incarcerated non-custodial fathers;

-   an assessment of barriers to payment by low-income fathers;

-   the development of collaborative approaches to assist low income
    fathers to find jobs and improve their incomes, pay child support,
    and stay involved with their children; and

-   a study of efforts to assist fragile families, including the
    provision of a \$400 stipend to low income fathers while they
    participate in intensive job training and a parenting skills course.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   DHHS also has been involved in promoting more attention to the issue
    of keeping fathers involved in their children's lives through
    initiating demonstrations, sponsoring and participating in national
    and regional conferences, and distributing information on fatherhood
    program development and implementation. These efforts include the
    following:

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Early Head Start Fatherhood Demonstrations \-- Twenty-one Early Head
    Start programs in 17 States have been awarded funds to develop
    replicable and sustainable father involvement components. These
    projects will receive funding of \$2.5 million in each of three
    years.

-   Partners for Fragile Families \-- A multi-State, multi-year project
    aimed at helping work with grass roots organizations to help
    unemployed and underemployed fathers become responsible fathers.
    This includes both financial responsibilities in paying child
    support, and emotional responsibility, by working with the mothers
    of their children to become "team\" parents. Projects are funded in
    California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland,
    Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

-   Responsible Fatherhood Grants \-- DHHS has funded eight child
    support enforcement demonstration projects (California, Colorado,
    Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, Washington, and
    Wisconsin) that will help strengthen fathers\' financial and
    emotional involvement with their children. Each State project is
    different, but they all provide needed services such as job search
    and training, access and visitation, social services, and/or case
    management. The initial implementation report, "DHHS Responsible
    Fatherhood Programs: Early Implementation Lessons," has been
    released.

### Ongoing DHHS Dissemination Activities

-   DHHS maintains a website on fatherhood that contains information on
    DHHS fatherhood activities and links to related program and
    resources. The website address is fatherhood.hhs.gov.

-   A study of the Department of Labor's Welfare-to-Work (WtW) grant
    programs serving noncustodial parents has been conducted and
    released. WtW grants represent a valuable source of funding for
    local work-focused services to noncustodial parents. The U. S.
    Department of Health and Human Services, working with the Department
    of Labor, sponsored a study of 11 selected WtW grantees with a focus
    on noncustodial parents to identify how some WtW grantees have
    designed and implemented programs that address the employment and
    other service needs of noncustodial parents. The study report,
    "Serving Noncustodial Parents: A Descriptive Study of the
    Welfare-to-Work Programs", documents a variety of recruitment
    strategies and service approaches being implemented and highlights
    key issues that must be addressed to serve this population.

-   DHHS has developed a new tool to help fatherhood programs manage and
    assess their programs. The Responsible Fatherhood Management
    Information System (RFMIS) will help programs maintain information
    on the services needed and delivered to fathers in their programs.
    The system allows programs to track the progress of individual
    fathers and to aggregate data on program participants for reporting
    purposes. The RFMIS is available for use as a paper and pencil
    tracking system or as an electronic database that can be downloaded
    into any computer system that uses Microsoft Access.

-   The Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture,
    Education, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, and Labor, have
    issued a joint guidance, "Meeting the Challenge: What the Federal
    Government Can Do To Support Responsible Fatherhood Efforts." The
    guidance provides information to communities, States, and fathers
    about Federal resources to support the development and
    implementation of responsible fatherhood efforts. The guidance
    discusses the types of fatherhood programs being developed;
    potential funding streams, both direct Federal and State
    administered; partnership opportunities; and provides sources of
    information relevant to the development of fatherhood programs.

-   A report on working with Hispanic fathers and families to increase
    educational achievement in Hispanic families was developed based on
    a meeting of community based programs serving Hispanic fathers and
    families, leaders in the fatherhood advocacy community, literacy
    program providers, and Federal staff to have a dialogue about
    Hispanic fathers and their role in promoting children\'s learning.
    The report, "Hispanic Fathers and Family Literacy: Strengthening
    Achievement in Hispanic Communities," provides a summary of that
    meeting and contains supplementary information that can help
    organizations in the development of programs and services for
    Hispanic fathers and their families.

#  {#section .unnumbered}