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The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) and the Office of Community Services (OCS) are pleased to present this Monograph, Fathers and Families, Making the Connection, to representatives and staffs of the many agencies and departments participating in the Presidential Fatherhood Initiative: Strengthening the Role of Fathers in Families. The Monograph is a collection of Summary Evaluations from projects funded by the Office of Community Services under its Demonstration Partnership Program. The projects focus on Minority Males, Youth-at-Risk, and Family Development, and although not directed exclusively at the problems of fatherhood, they deal with important issues and barriers related directly to the ability of these populations to attain self-sufficiency and meet their parental and family responsibilities. Also included are two chapters on Minority Males and Youth-at-Risk excerpted from the recently published Self-Sufficiency Program Implementation Manual, Lessons Learned From An Assessment of Eight Years of Office of Community Services Demonstration Partnership Programs. Last year's Federal Staff Conference on Fatherhood was held, in large part, in response to the determination by the National Performance Review (NPR) that federal agencies would be better served if they could initiate a dialogue with other agencies highlighting best practices and identifying barriers to male involvement. We hope the many agencies involved with the President's Initiative will find this Monograph a valuable contribution to such a dialogue.

OCSE and OCS have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which expresses their commitment to a working relationship at the Federal level that will foster partnerships in the States and in local communities between Child Support Enforcement Agencies and OCS Discretionary Grantees and Community Action Agencies which will seek to increase the capabilities of low-income non-custodial parents to fulfill their parental responsibilities. A copy of the MOU is included as and Appendix to this Monograph.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement was established in 1975 by Title IV, Part D of the Social Security Act. The Child Support Enforcement Program (CSE) has helped to strengthen families by establishing paternity and ensuring that both parents live up to their responsibilities to the well-being of their children.

Child support services are provided automatically to families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Foster Care, and Medicaid assistance. Most of the child support collected for AFDC families is used by Federal and State governments to offset AFDC payments. For some families, the child support payments are enough to enable them to leave the assistance rolls altogether. Child support services are also being provided automatically to recipients of the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program as it replaces the AFDC program under welfare reform.

Child support payments collected through the CSE Program for non-AFDC families go directly to the families, providing a direct benefit to children and families. Taxpayers benefit in the form of indirect savings and cost avoidance. Because of the CSE Program, many families have been able to remain self-sufficient, and many children have the legal relationship with their fathers that is critical for their emotional well-being.

The Office of Community Services was established in the Department of Health and Human Services by the Community Services Block Grant Act of 1981 which authorized the Secretary, acting through the Office of Community Services, to make grants to States "to ameliorate the causes of poverty within the State". The Act further provided that Block Grant funds were to go to the States only on their assurance that at least 90 percent of the funds would go to "eligible entities" to use for a variety of purposes related to the amelioration of the causes and effects of poverty. "Eligible Entities" as defined in the Act were -- and are --the approximately 1000 Community Action Agencies established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity and its successor, the Community Services Administration.

In addition the Act provided the Secretary with discretionary authority for a number of programs, including Urban and Rural Economic Development, Rural Housing, Rural Facilities, Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker programs, Community Food and Nutrition Services, and a Summer Youth Sports Program. To these have been added three demonstration programs: The Demonstration Partnership Program (DPP), Reducing Welfare Dependency and Capacity Building for Community Revitalization; Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (JOLI); and the Family Support Center Program for Homelessness Prevention.

Additional programs now administered by the Office of Community Services include the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP); the Social Services Block Grant; and the Family Violence Prevention Program, including the Family Violence Hot Line.

It is our hope that as the agencies participating in the President's Fatherhood Initiative continue to work together we will learn from each other and from the parents and families in the communities we serve, so that we can help them to achieve the kind of economic and social stability that will enable them to carry out their parental and family responsibilities. As we learn, we must all share what we have learned, as we do here in this Monograph, so that parents, families, and communities everywhere can provide the future that we all wish for our children.

David Gray Ross, Deputy Director Donald Sykes, Director

Office of Child Support Enforcement Office of Community Services

INTRODUCTION

In keeping with President Clinton's initiative on Supporting the Role of Fathers in Families, we first present in this Monograph summary evaluations of five DPP projects which experimented, with varying degrees of success, with innovative approaches to increasing the self-sufficiency of populations which have special relevance to fatherhood: Minority Males and Youth At Risk, particularly those between the ages of 14 and 25. After these summaries, we present excerpts from two chapters of the recently published Self-Sufficiency Implementation Manual, a compilation of lessons learned and program models synthesized from the first eight years of experience with the Office of Community Services146 Demonstration Partnership Program (DPP). These excerpts again deal with issues around working with Minority Males and Youth At Risk, and offer important insights for those seeking to support the role of fathers in low-income families. (In each case the summary or excerpt retains the format of the original publication.)

A foundation of successful family life is economic security. Poverty stricken families are often unable to provide the necessities of life that ensure their children's physical health, mental well-being, and academic success. Poverty stricken adults often suffer from a lack of self-worth and hope. Young males living in poverty often see little opportunity in their lives and find few institutions that can help them to create a future for themselves. Many, particularly urban minority males, have criminal records which further diminish their capacity to find and hold a job that would lead to economic security. Finally, they often face limited education and training possibilities within their community. While many social service programs address the needs of single mothers, there are very few which seek to help fathers fulfill their parental responsibilities more fully and effectively.

The Demonstration Partnership Program was designed to allow Community Action Agencies to experiment with innovative programs that could attack these issues and help low-income individuals to become more self-sufficient. The primary thrust of the programs has been to integrate or reintegrate individuals into the labor market and to offer the possibility of developing a long-term strategy for economic security.

In recognition of the devastating impact on children of being without their fathers, all of the programs on minority males and youth at risk have experimented with parenting components. Many of the programs, particularly those targeted at young males over the age of 18, have also included specific "fathering" components; and one, the Phoenix "Step-Up" project, was specifically aimed at young fathers. A number of valuable lessons have been learned both about how to help fathers to take care of their children where the family is intact or they are the custodial parent, and about how to involve the fathers in a more positive way with their children when they are the non-custodial parent and the family is not intact.

We believe that the lessons learned from these programs suggest that well designed efforts can be successful in helping young males (i) to achieve academic success, (ii) to find work and build a "career", and (iii) to fulfill their responsibilities as successful parents. Those wishing additional information about the projects reviewed may contact them directly. In the case of the Family Development Program of Mid-Iowa Community Action, requests should be sent to Move The Mountain Training Center, c/o Mid-Iowa Community Action, 1001 South 18th Ave., Marshalltown, Iowa 50158.