LegiStorm

Summary:

In 2016, while the majority of children in the United States lived in families with two parents (69%), an estimated 27% of children were maintained in one-parent homes. Of children in oneparent homes, an estimated 85% were in homes maintained by the mother only. Research indicates that children raised in single-parent families are more likely than children raised in twoparent families (with both biological parents) to do poorly in school, have emotional and behavioral problems, become teenage parents, and have poverty-level incomes. In hopes of improving the long-term outlook for children in single-parent families, federal, state, and local governments, along with public and private organizations, are supporting programs and activities that promote the financial and personal responsibility of noncustodial fathers to their children and increase the participation of fathers in the lives of their children. These programs have come to be known as “responsible fatherhood” programs. Sources of federal funding for fatherhood programs include the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, TANF state Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) funding, Child Support Enforcement (CSE) funds, and Social Services Block Grant (Title XX) funds. Beginning with the 106th Congress, bills containing specific funding for responsible fatherhood initiatives were debated. President George W. Bush, a supporter of responsible fatherhood programs, included funding for such programs in each of his budgets. Likewise, President Obama has also included responsible fatherhood initiatives in each of his budgets. P.L. 109-171 (the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, enacted February 8, 2006) included a provision (in Title IV-A of the Social Security Act) that provided funding for a Healthy Marriage Promotion and Responsible Fatherhood grants program. The program provided up to $50 million per year (FY2006-FY2010) for competitive responsible fatherhood grants and about $100 million per year (FY2006-FY2010) for competitive healthy marriage promotion grants. Grantees for responsible fatherhood grants include states, territories, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, and public and nonprofit community groups (including religious organizations). For FY2017, the authority and funding (at the $150 million annual rate, divided equally between the programs) for the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood grant programs has been provided through two continuing resolutions (P.L. 114-223, enacted on September 29, 2016; and P.L. 114-254, enacted on December 10, 2016). The continuing appropriations in P.L. 114-254 are scheduled to expire on April 28, 2017. Most fatherhood programs include media campaigns that emphasize the importance of emotional, physical, psychological, and financial connections of fathers to their children. Most fatherhood programs include parenting education; responsible decisionmaking; mediation services for both parents; providing an understanding of the CSE program; conflict resolution, coping with stress, and problem-solving skills; peer support; and job-training opportunities (skills development, interviewing skills, job search, job-retention skills, job-advancement skills, etc.). The 44 most recently awarded responsible fatherhood grants, which are scheduled to run through FY2020, have included a new emphasis on key short- and long-term outcomes intended to enhance evaluation and strengthen program design. According to the Office of Family Assistance (in the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services), it is expected that the new responsible fatherhood programs (and their evaluations) will increase the understanding of policymakers and others of what works and why. The federal government’s support of fatherhood initiatives raises a wide array of issues. This report briefly examines the role of the CSE agency in fatherhood programs, discusses initiatives to promote and support father-child interaction outside the parents’ relationship, and talks about the need most see for work-oriented programs that enable noncustodial parents to have the financial ability to meet their child support obligations in a consistent and timely manner.