Failing Our Fathers

Confronting the Crisis of Economically Vulnerable Nonresident Fathers

Ronald B. Mincy, Monique Jethwani-Keyser, and Serena Klempin

multi-method, interdisciplinary study of the most recent quantitative and qualitative studies about vulnerable nonresident fathers
breaks out of familiar boundaries based on race/ethnicity and marital status at birth
focuses on the commonalities among nonresident fathers who are unable to support their children, given the mass incarceration and unemployment of the past two decade
shows how to re-orient policies affecting vulnerable fathers, their children and families from the perspective of a leading contributor to research, policy, and practice in this field over the same period.

Failing Our Fathers

Confronting the Crisis of Economically Vulnerable Nonresident Fathers

Ronald B. Mincy, Monique Jethwani-Keyser, and Serena Klempin

Description

Maligned as "deadbeat dads¨or sexually and financially irresponsible, inner-city fathers and overlooked in discussions of poverty and family policy, economically vulnerable nonresident fathers are a greatly misunderstood population. Failing our Fathers summarizes the most recent rigorous and ethnographic research and fills in important gaps with new analyses. The result is a comprehensive picture of who these fathers are, what types of relationships they have with their families and children, and the challenges they face meeting what they, taxpayers and their children and families expect from them. The book argues that in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 Great Mancession, nearly 6 million - almost one of every eleven - men will be unable to provide financial and other kinds of support for their children who live elsewhere. This population is far larger than the inner city, unmarried, Black and Latino men who have been the focus of the debate on disadvantaged fathers. Because so few could reduce the child support obligations that built up during the mass unemployment and incarceration over the previous two decades, they have long-term debts, which they may never be able to pay. Nevertheless, they play active roles as friends, mentors, educators, and disciplinarians for their children and they want to do more. However, they face several challenges, including: time and distance, new family obligations, contentious relationships with children's mothers - who just as often have new partners and children of their own - and personal problems with drugs, alcohol and past or present jail time. Besides requiring these fathers to support their children, we must enable them to do so in ways that parallel how we require and enable vulnerable single mothers to do the same. The book lays out specific reforms required to do this and practical tips for those who are Fathering without Means.

Failing Our Fathers

Confronting the Crisis of Economically Vulnerable Nonresident Fathers

Ronald B. Mincy, Monique Jethwani-Keyser, and Serena Klempin

PART I: INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Who are these Fathers?
PART II: NONRESIDENT FATHER PRESENCE
Chapter 3. Nonresident Fathers in Active Parenting Roles
Chapter 4. Understanding Challenges to Active Parenting Roles
Chapter 5. Nonresident Fathers as Breadwinners
Chapter 6. Understanding Challenges to the Breadwinner Role: Limited Education
Chapter 7. Understanding Challenges to the Breadwinner Role: Limited Employment and Finances
PART III: CONCLUSION
Chapter 8. How Programs and Policies Can Help Nonresident Fathers Reach Their Goals
Chapter 9. Tips for Nonresident Fathers

Failing Our Fathers

Confronting the Crisis of Economically Vulnerable Nonresident Fathers

Ronald B. Mincy, Monique Jethwani-Keyser, and Serena Klempin

Author Information

Ronald B. Mincy, Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice, Columbia University School of Social Work, Monique Jethwani-Keyser, Lecturer, Columbia University School of Social Work, and Serena Klempin, Research Associate, Teachers College

Ronald B. Mincy, PhD, is the Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice at the Columbia University School of Social Work and Director of the Center for Research on Fathers, Children and Family Well-Being (CRFCFW). He is also a co-principal investigator of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Monique Jethwani-Keyser, PhD is a Lecturer at the Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW), where she is teaching Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Adolescent Development, and Clinical Practice Evaluation.Serena Klempin, MSW, is a Research Associate at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University. She was most recently a Research Associate at the Columbia University School of Social Work's Center for Research on Fathers, Children and Family Well-Being.

Failing Our Fathers

Confronting the Crisis of Economically Vulnerable Nonresident Fathers

Ronald B. Mincy, Monique Jethwani-Keyser, and Serena Klempin

Reviews and Awards

"Rarely does one book paint a clear, concise, and lucid understanding of a population. As the research and scholarship on responsible fatherhood continue to grow, a greater understanding emerges bridging child welfare and father involvement.Failing Our Fathersadds to this understanding by defining the world of vulnerable nonresident fathers in their own words." - Social Work

"The volume broadens our recognition and deepens our understanding of nonresident fatherhood by expanding the lens from which economic vulnerability is examined, the myriad of mechanisms and life course events that characterize their respective plights and struggles. The qualitative insights will yield an enhanced discourse on their lives as fathers and life course experiences as parents." - Waldo E. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D., MSW, Social of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago