Inside the Black Box of Interactions between Programs and Participants: Re-conceptualizing Subgroups for Fatherhood Program Evaluation.

摘要

Fathers are critical to their children's well-being and development. Unfortunately, some fathers are not able to provide the consistent care and financial support their children need. Low-income fathers, in particular, are less likely to live with and have contact with their children (Nelson 2004) and may have greater difficulty providing for their children emotionally or financially. In reauthorizing the TANF program, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) created the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grant program to promote healthy marriages and foster responsible fatherhood among low-income individuals and couples. DRA authorized $150 million in each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010 for these programs, up to $50 million of which could be used for responsible fatherhood programs. Five-year grants were awarded in 2006 to 94 responsible fatherhood (RF) and 122 healthy marriage (HM) grantees. The Claims Resolution Act of 2010 (CRA) re-authorized this grant program, increasing the focus on economic stability by allowing healthy marriage programs to offer job and career advancement services and broadening its reach by allowing grantees to provide marriage and relationship education to any low-income individual (not just unmarried pregnant women and expectant fathers). CRA also strengthened the emphasis on fatherhood, requiring that funding be equally split between healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood programs. Three-year grants were awarded in 2011 to 55 RF and 60 HM grantees.