Assessment of Feasibility and Acceptability of the Pathways for Parents After Incarceration Program.

Most incarcerated fathers have connections to their families, and the quality of their family relationships is important not only to their reentry success but also to shaping positive child and family outcomes. However, there is a lack of rigorous evidence about interventions designed to strengthen parent-child and other family relationships among formerly incarcerated parents. The purpose of this study was to develop and assess for feasibility and acceptability an intervention for formerly incarcerated fathers, co-parents, and their children. We created and implemented the Pathways for Parents after Incarceration Program (P4P), a multilevel intervention that focuses on strengthening positive parenting skills, building constructive co-parenting strategies, providing social support, and connecting families to needed specialized services. We delivered P4P virtually to 3 groups of participants, collecting data at several points. Results suggest that while the program was well liked and appreciated by participants and parent coaches and had a positive effect on parenting skills and attitudes, recruitment and retention were challenging. Findings suggest that P4P has the potential to support child and family well-being when fathers reenter by bolstering protective factors, and supporting access to necessary supports associated with improved reentry outcomes. Additional research is needed to address feasibility concerns and establish program efficacy.

Family reunification after fathers are released from prison: Perspectives on children's adjustment.

Objective: This qualitative study examined adult perspectives on the adjustments children face through the process of paternal incarceration and eventual release. Background: While the United States leads the world in incarceration, 95% of imprisoned individuals return to community life. Despite poor outcomes for children with incarcerated fathers, less is known as to how they fair after fathers' release. Conceptualizing paternal incarceration and reentry as linked rather than disparate events, this study examines perspectives on family separation, reunification, and children's adjustment when fathers return from prison. Method: The sample consisted of 38 participants (19 previously incarcerated fathers, nine coparenting mothers, and 10 relatives) who shared perspectives on 63 children's adjustments. The semistructured interviews were analyzed via thematic analysis. Results: Two main themes were evident: (a) Paternal incarceration has a lasting toll on children that complicates reunification processes, introduces hurdles to maintaining togetherness, and is tied to changes in children's behaviors; and (b) reentry renews opportunity for father involvement that bolsters resilience despite ongoing systemic vulnerabilities. Conclusion: Postrelease family reunification may present challenges for children's adjustment, though supported transitions may curb some concerns. The findings call for strengths-oriented, needs-focused, and evidence-based reentry strategies that support entire family systems.

Prevalence and Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence Among Youth With Foster Care Histories.

A small but growing body of research suggests that adolescents and young adults involved with the child welfare system and those transitioning out of foster care are at heightened risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Understanding the factors that place youth at risk of IPV is central to prevention and treatment of this public health problem. However, questions remain about the prevalence and correlates of IPV among youth in foster care. Additionally, emotional abuse, a particular form of IPV in intimate partnerships, remains an understudied area in this population. This study aimed to address these gaps in research by exploring factors associated with IPV using longitudinal data from a representative sample of older youth in California Foster Care who participated in the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH). Our IPV outcome measures included victimization, perpetration, bidirectional IPV, and emotional abuse. Findings suggest that approximately one-fifth (20.4%) of CalYOUTH respondents had experienced some form of IPV at age 23, with emotional abuse and bidirectional violence being the most commonly reported types of IPV. Females reported emotional abuse, as well as bidirectional violence, at nearly double the rates of their male counterparts. Self-identified sexual minority youth (SMY; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning) were more likely to report IPV victimization, IPV perpetration, and bidirectional violence than their non-SMY peers. Youth with histories of emotional abuse, caregiver IPV victimization, sexual abuse in foster care, placement instability, substance use, anxiety, and incarceration were also at heightened risk of IPV involvement. Emotional abuse was most prevalent with SMY. The findings contribute to the growing research on IPV among transition-age foster youth with important implications for future research, practice, and policy.

A Qualitative Exploration of Reentry Service Needs: The Case of Fathers Returning From Prison.

The challenge of community and family reentry after a parent's release from prison remains an under-addressed area of collateral damage stemming from high rates of U.S. incarceration. Many fathers released from prison return to living with family, and later attribute family connections and parent-child contact as key factors in their post-release success. However, reentry planning is hampered by a dearth of research on family-focused reentry services, and consequently, often omits attention to resuming family and parenting roles. To address this gap, we conducted 38 semi-structured interviews with 19 previously incarcerated fathers, 9 co-parenting mothers, and 10 relatives to explore service needs of fathers during reentry. Findings suggest programs not only should be multimodal, emphasizing family connections complemented by socioeconomic, self-care, and social support services, but also should be accessible and relatable, offered within the community, and engaging for fathers and family members. Findings reinforce the importance of self-determination and human agency while underscoring the multiple challenges fathers face upon reentry. By including the voices of those most affected by incarceration, this study advances knowledge to shape reentry programs and policies, contributes to efforts addressing criminal justice inequities, and promotes well-being among formerly incarcerated parents and their families.

Parenting and Incarceration: Perspectives on Father-Child Involvement during Reentry from Prison.

Large numbers of the more than 2 million people incarcerated in the United States are fathers who, upon exiting prison, return to their families and communities. Nevertheless, fathers' experiences of parenting from prison, their reentry process as a parent, and their involvement with their children after prison is not well understood. This qualitative study examines the experiences of 19 fathers recently released from prison to understand how incarceration shapes parenting and facilitates or presents barriers to father-child relationships. Our findings indicate that, despite the substantial challenges to parenting from prison, fathers remain deeply committed. Fathers identify individuals and systems that promote or hinder father-child involvement. The voices of the fathers help demonstrate that, despite personal and contextual challenges, their resilience and perseverance to parent motivates them to "perfect" themselves as fathers. These perspectives can inform the design and implementation of services to promote father-child involvement among fathers returning from prison.

Fathers' Criminal Behavior and Involvement With Children: The Moderating Role of Family Relationships.

OBJECTIVE: Research indicates that fathers' criminal behavior can be problematic for children through multiple pathways, yet few studies have examined the effect of fathers' kinship networks in this process. This study examines the association between fathers' criminal behavior and involvement with their children and the extent to which a father's relationships with individuals in his extended family network moderate this association. METHOD: Hierarchical linear modeling was used to predict fathers' involvement using data from a longitudinal intergenerational study of 335 children and 149 low-income, minority fathers. Measures included 8 father-involvement outcomes, a measure of fathers' criminal behavior, and 2 moderator variables. RESULTS: High-quality relationships between fathers and their male relatives moderated the negative effect of criminal behavior on measures of fathers' involvement. Criminal behavior was only associated with decreasing levels of father involvement when fathers had low-quality relationships with male relatives. CONCLUSIONS: Strong and affirmative relationships-with male relatives specifically-may attenuate the adverse effects of antisocial and criminal behavior on fathers' involvement in at-risk families. Implications for tailoring practice to improve relationships between fathers and male relatives and to enhance fathers' prosocial involvement are noted.

Disagreement in Parental Reports of Father Involvement.

Despite agreement on the value of father involvement in children's lives, research has been limited due to the exclusion of fathers in studies, questionable validity of mothers' reports on father involvement, and simple measures of fathering behavior. Our study extends previous research by comparing reports of father involvement using robust, multidimensional father involvement measures. Data from 113 fathers and 126 mothers reporting on 221 children were used to assess father involvement. Results indicate that fathers reported significantly higher levels of involvement than mothers reported. Findings from hierarchical linear models suggest that race/ethnicity and mothers' reports of positive relationship quality were associated with smaller discrepancies in reports of father involvement, whereas nonmarried partnerships, older children, father residence, and biological status predicted larger discrepancies. Our study demonstrates the importance of obtaining father involvement reports directly from fathers and why father involvement should be assessed as a multidimensional construct to examine fathering behavior.