Establishing paternity is an issue for unmarried families, particularly when mothers seek formal child support or public assistance. The literature on this issue has emphasized the need to ensure paternity establishment to supplement, if not recapture, AFDC funds. Research reveals that poor mothers, however, are unlikely to adjudicate paternity. Another significant barrier to paternity establishment is a lack of disseminated information about the process of establishing paternity. Many unmarried fathers simply do not know who to contact, what paternity establishment entails, and what its benefits are for children.
Some clinicians discuss the social service agency as a good point of entry.
Moreover, social agencies could provide needed information on the benefits to children of paternity establishment and father involvement. A number of studies testify to the success of hospital-based paternity establishment programs. Child support reform has been explored more extensively within the context of welfare reform. The primary systemic barrier to father involvement appears to be a sense of distrust toward fathers that pervades the child support system. Fathers are assumed to be uninterested in their children's lives.