OCSE Responsible Fatherhood Programs: Early Implementation Lessons.

In 1997, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) funded Responsible Fatherhood Demonstration Projects in eight states (California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Washington, and Wisconsin) to improve the employment and earnings of underand unemployed noncustodial parents and to motivate them to become more financially and emotionally involved in their children's lives. This report is an early implementation analysis of the programs, focusing on: (1) how the programs are administered; (2) the types of services they deliver; (3) the coalitions they create with community-based organizations and with state and local service agencies; (4) how they recruit program participants; and (5) how they monitor client progress. Following an executive summary, Chapter 1 of the report describes the historical context of the programs, gives a demographic profile of the program settings, and gives a child support profile of the program settings. Chapter 2 presents a summary profile of each program in terms of its organization and administration, target population, major service components, outreach efforts, and status at the end of calendar year 1999. Chapter 3 discusses client recruitment and retention, reviews referral sources and their advantages and disadvantages, and reviews policy and philosophical approach to client retention. Chapter 4 examines employment and child support, focusing on method of service delivery. Chapter 5 presents information on other services offered, such as assistance with access and visitation, peer support, and case management. Chapter 6 summarizes some lessons learned to date about responsible fatherhood programs. (Contains 42 references.) (KB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.