U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
Sample Models / Family Services
Below are sample collaborations with fatherhood and family initiatives.
Christian Community Council Fill the Gap Program
Fill the Gap got its start when a long-time pastor pursued his interest in fatherhood issues and noncustodial parents and put together a curriculum to start a fatherhood program in his church.
Partners include the local child support enforcement agency and the 21st Judicial District Court who work with project participants in a 10-week program to help them…
The program links child support and the court system to assist noncustodial parents in meeting their child support payments and maintaining a healthy relationship with their children. In addition, the program maintains contact with noncustodial parents for one year after completion of the program to continue serving as a resource to the noncustodial parent.
The child support enforcement agency chose this partner to address barriers commonly faced by noncustodial parents in this area, including limited employment and employment opportunities, lack of education, and lack of life skills, such as how to find a job.
The program works mainly with African Americans and Caucasians. While it was not designed to specifically target the Latino community, the program is flexible and can accommodate the need of Latino parents and other populations.
Funding:
The project was funded through an ACF Special Improvement Project (SIP) grant. The project began on Sept. 1, 2006, and ended on Aug. 31, 2008.
Results:
The program uses the Louisiana Delinquent Payers List (which identifies people who are six months delinquent in child support payments) to monitor program participants’ adherence to child support duties.
As of April 2007, 79 percent of the 19 Fill the Gap participants in 2004 are in payment status. In 2005, the program served 44 participants, and showed 75 percent of participants having made a child support payment in the previous six months of program participation.
Organizations Involved:
Christian Community Council Fill the Gap Program.
Office of Child Support Enforcement.
Family Services Agency Partnership
Judge Maria Socorro Leos of IV-D Court #2 in Court #25 in the 5th Administrative Judicial Region of Hildalgo County, Texas, has begun an informal collaboration between her court and a family violence service agency.
When hearing child support cases, she reviews the Family Violence Indicator. If the indicator is high, she refers both parents to the agency, where they receive a special rate.
Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin
The partner’s primary goal is supporting all people through life’s challenges and transitions. The agency offers 20 programs including counseling services, early childhood development, and at-risk youth services.
In 2005, the partnership provided over 4,000 home visits to 314 families. The partnership helped 279 children overcome the effects of sexual assault and provided prevention education to 13,541. More than 550 kids participated in the gang prevention program.
It does include a Spanish brochure.
Milwaukee County Child Support Legal Advocacy Project
The primary goal is to reduce adversarial child support proceedings that will lead to improved financial security for children born out of wedlock.
Milwaukee partners are Milwaukee Department of Child Support Enforcement, Legal Action of Wisconsin (LAW) and the Alliance for Children and Families (evaluation). The Department of Workforce Development from the State is part of the partnership. Representatives meet once per month to review project status and make adjustments as necessary to how the program works.
The partnership serves, on average, 17 to 20 people per month.
LAW does some outreach in the Hispanic community, and some information is available in Spanish.
Funding:
The Federal government provides funding.
Lessons Learned:
The project depends on conducting effective outreach to noncustodial parents that encourages them to participate.
School Family Community Partnership
There are many reasons for developing school, family, and community partnerships. They can improve school programs and school climate, provide family services and support, increase parents' skills and leadership, connect families with others in the school and in the community and help teachers with their work.
However, the main reason to create such partnerships is to help all youngsters succeed in school and in later life. When parents, teachers, students, and others view one another as partners in education, a caring community forms around students and begins its work.
The partner’s primary goal is to enhance children's learning and development by being a proactive resource in promoting, strengthening, and celebrating the partnership that exists between schools, families, and the Naperville Community.
There are over 260 parents, teachers, administrators, and community members actively involved in this initiative across 21 schools, sponsoring more than 100 individual programs.
Origins of the Collaboration:
A focus group of parents and community members met to discuss how the District’s 203 staff could improve communication between their schools, families, and community members. A recommendation from the focus group suggested a need for more parent involvement in the schools.
The District researched different parent involvement models throughout school districts around the nation. District 203 adopted the Joyce Epstein Framework of Six Types of Involvement model, and the Parent Involvement Core Team (or School Family Community Partnership as it is now called) was initiated during the summer of 1996.
Some material has begun to be translated to Spanish. The Born To Read program provides a bag of books (bilingual) for parents to read with their children. The brochure 100 Ways to Praise Your Child has been translated and widely distributed to Hispanic parents.
Results:
The partnership is evaluated annually by the Johns Hopkins National Network of Partnership Schools. Since the start of this initiative, many of the schools' best practices have been featured in the National Network of Partnership Schools annual Promising Partnership Practices book. In addition, three of the schools have received the National Network's Partnership School Award for Excellence and the District Core Team has received the Network's District Award for Excellence four years in a row.
