January 2011

Program Technical Assistance Series

This brief was researched and written by Sarah Fishbein and Chris Warland of the National Transitional Jobs Network

www.transitionaljobs.net

ntjn@heartlandalliance.org

Tips for Working with Noncustodial Fathers

TJToolbox

Noncustodial Fathers Need Income and Opportunity

While many noncustodial fathers want to be involved in their children’s lives,1 unfortunately many live in poverty and lack the resources to financially provide for their children—a fact which may cause some fathers to withdraw further from involvement with their children.2 For many of these fathers, the lack of steady, sustainable income is a major barrier to fulfilling parental obligations.

The Transitional Jobs Strategy can help Noncustodial Fathers Earn Income and Support their Families

Transitional Jobs (TJ) programs can help address issues of fatherhood and the employment needs and barriers of noncustodial parents. While more research is needed to help determine how to best help these fathers support their children, improve relationships with their families, and meet their own needs, current evidence suggests that combining support with employment—such as Transitional Jobs—with fatherhood services and child support advocacy is a promising strategy for improving the lives of noncustodial parents and their families.3 The positive impacts of TJ for a variety of populations have resulted in increasing support and interest from local, state and federal governments interested in evidence-based employment programming for noncustodial fathers.

Combining Employment Assistance with Fatherhood Programming is a Key to Success

Programs that combine employment assistance with fatherhood services are promising because they address noncustodial fathers’ joblessness and lack of income, which otherwise function as major disincentives and barriers to providing child support.4 These programs typically pursue the goals of increasing income, formalizing child support payments, and improving current relationships between the non-custodial parent and child.5

Evaluation outcomes suggest that combining employment services with fatherhood programming can increase participants’ earnings and child support payments. For example, Fathers at Work, an initiative involving six such programs—two of which included Transitional Jobs—produced an average annual income increase of $6,400 and an average increase in formal child support payments by about $32 per month. Notably, the level of informal support provided by participating fathers did not decrease in light of the increased formal support contribution.6

Based on evaluations and experience of combined fatherhood/employment programs, the NTJN has compiled the following recommendations for TJ programs interested in building a fatherhood component into their program.

In President Obama’s 2010 Fathers Day address, the President restated his support for Transitional Jobs as a strategy for noncustodial fathers, in order to “help them develop the skills and experience they need to move into full-time, long-term employment, so they can meet their child support obligations and help provide for their families.”

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Child support orders are often set at levels higher than non-custodial parents can afford to pay. One study found that60 percent of their participants were ordered to pay more than half of their monthly income in child support.7 Fornon custodial parents who lack steady income, significant child support debt can accrue. The burden of this debt, andthe threat of wage garnishment that often consumes 50 to 65 percent of an individual’s paycheck8 can create adisincentive to engaging in legitimate work and associated formal child support payments. TJ programs can addressthese barriers with key supports.

• Educating fathers about their rights and responsibilities allows them to fully understand their options within the child support system. For example, program staff can assist fathers in deter-mining whether formal support orders exist, establishing pater-nity and providing advocacy modified child support levels.9 10

• TJ and other supportive programs that develop relationships with the local child support system can help non-custodial parents modify child support orders to manageable levels.11 In addition, building such relationships provides programs with important information about the local child support system and provides opportunities to streamline petitioning processes that would otherwise require significant time on the part of the petitioning non-custodial parent.12 If the resources are available, TJ programs who serve non-custodial parents should dedicate a staff member to child support modification and advocacy. Because the child support system is complex and varies by state, this staff member can specialize in local procedures and ensure that participants are able to navigate the system.

For more information on helping participants manage child support issues, see Public/Private Ventures Navigating the Child Support System.

Key #2 Focus on Effective Recruitment

Recruitment has proven to be one of the biggest challenges for fatherhood/employment programs13, largely because potential participants may be wary of engaging in the formal child support system in which the state may garnish their wages. Many non-custodial parents feel more confident providing informal support to their children, knowing that their child will be the direct recipient.14 While understanding this concern, there are measures TJ programs can take to boost recruitment.

• TJ programs can promote the fact that they provide advocacy toward manageable levels of child support and educate potential participants as to the risks of informal child support. The documentation of child support payments, through formalized orders, protects non-custodial parents from being called to make back payments on years in which they were providing support that was not recognized by the legal system.15

Key #1 Help Participants Manage Child Support Obligations

Program spotlight: Center for Urban Families, Baltimore

The Center for Urban Families serves Baltimore’s most troubled neighborhoods, with a holistic approach that strengthens families by helping men connect with their children and helping them achieve financial stability and opportunity through work.

CFUF’s programs combine responsible fatherhood programming devoted to increasing low-income fathers’ emotional and financial support of their families with employment services including intensive job-readiness training through the STRIVE Baltimore program, career-path oriented occupational training to help men and women move beyond entry-level employment and attain family-sustaining wages, and couples employment services devoted to assisting couples in achieving family-friendly career goals.

With roughly 1,500 individuals served annually, CFUF has since its founding facilitated more than 3,600 job placements, helping hundreds of fathers become better parents, guiding hundreds of couples to better nurture their children, and continuing to assist more than 3,800 STRIVE Baltimore program alumni.

The National Transitional Jobs Network is (NTJN) is a coalition of city, state, and federal policy makers; community workforce organizations; anti-poverty nonprofit service providers and advocacy organizations committed to advancing and strengthening Transitional Jobs programs around the country so that people with barriers to employment can gain success in the workplace and improve their economic lives and the economic conditions of their communities. The NTJN supports a constituency of over 4,000 active members and stakeholders across the country.

The NTJN is a project of Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights.

Responsible fatherhood programming seeks to help fathers, including noncustodial fathers, become more engaged in the emotional, mental and physical well-being of their children, improve the quality of their relationships with their children, and identify more strongly with the role of father. These efforts can take many forms, including:

• Classroom instruction or workshops focused on the principles of responsible fatherhood. A number of curricula are available from several organizations.

• Co-parent relationship building: activities and exercises to improve the father’s relationship with his children’s mother such as mediation and family outings.

• Peer support groups in which fathers can discuss their relationships and experiences in a candid, safe and supportive environment. In the Fathers at Work evaluation, participants highly rated the value of these support groups.19

In many areas, there may be community-based organizations that already provide some responsible fatherhood services. Rather than developing a responsible fatherhood program from scratch, Transitional Jobs programs seeking to add a responsible fatherhood component may want to partner with existing fatherhood programs. An interactive map for locating fatherhood programs can be found at www.fatherhood.gov.

To get more information, request technical assistance, or share your successful strategies for serving noncustodial fathers, please contact Chris Warland at cwarland@heartlandalliance.org.

Key #3 Provide or Identify a Partner to Incorporate Responsible Fatherhood Programming

• As joblessness and poverty are major disincentives to participation in fatherhood programming16, TJ programs should emphasize the wage-paying aspect of Transitional Jobs programs in their recruiting efforts.

• Partnerships with local child support agencies can produce a significant source of referrals for TJ programs that are serving non-custodial parents. Some programs found that upon establishing a referral relationship in which non-custodial fathers were participating in a fatherhood/employment program, child support officials were more willing to consider modifying child support levels than they otherwise would be.17 Establishing referral relationships directly from family court has been found to be helpful for programs in meeting recruitment goals.18

Endnotes

1. Spaulding, S., Grossman, J. & Wallace, D. (2009) Working dads: Final report on the fathers at work initiative. Public/Private Ventures. http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/310_publication.pdf 2. Claessens, Amy (2007) Gatekeeper moms and (un) involved dads: What happens after a breakup.” In Unmarried Couples With Children. Paula England and Kathryn Edin (eds) New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 3. Spaulding, S., Grossman, J. & Wallace, D. (2009) 4. Sylvester, K. & Reich, K. (2000) Restoring fathers to families and communities: Six steps for policymakers. Annie E. Casey Foundation; Social Policy Action Network. http://www.ytfg.org/documents/RestoringFatherstoFamilies.pdf 5. Spaulding, S., Grossman, J. & Wallace, D. (2009)6. Spaulding, S., Grossman, J. & Wallace, D. (2009)7. Martinson, K. & Nightingale, D.(2008) Ten key findings from responsible fatherhood initiatives. Urban Insitute. http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411623_fatherhood_initiatives.pdf 8. Turetsky, V.(2006) Realistic child support policies that support successful reentry. Center for Law and Social Policy. http://ww.clasp.org/publications/realisticchildsupportreentrypolicies2.pdf9. Martinson, K. & Nightingale, D.(2008) 10. McVay, M., Wallace, D.& Wycoff, L. (2009) Navigating the child support system: Lessons from the fathers at work initiative. Public/Private Ventures. http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/274_publication.pdf11. Spaulding, S., Grossman, J. & Wallace, D. (2009)12. McVay, M., Wallace, D.& Wycoff, L. (2009)13. Sorensen, E., O’Brien, C., & Mincy, R. (2009) Strengthening families through stronger fathers initiative: lessons from the first year of the evaluation. Urban Institute, http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411870_strengtheningfamilies.pdf; Martinson, K. & Nightingale, D.(2008).14. Spaulding, S., Grossman, J. & Wallace, D. (2009)15. Spaulding, S., Grossman, J. & Wallace, D. (2009)16. Martinson, K. & Nightingale, D.(2008)17. Martinson, K. & Nightingale, D.(2008)18. Tannehill, T., O’Brien, C., & Sorensen, E. (2009) families through stronger fathers initiative: process evaluation report. Urban Institute, http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001412-stronger-fathers-initiative.pdf 19. Spaulding, S., Grossman, J. & Wallace, D. (2009)