March 1, 2009

Strengthening Families Through Stronger Fathers Initiative: Lessons from the First Year of the Evaluation

In 2006, New York became the first state in the country to enact legislation that consists of two innovative policies that are designed to help low-income noncustodial parents (mostly fathers) find work and pay the full amount of their current child support called the Strengthening Families Through Stronger Fathers Initiative. Written by Elaine Sorensen, Carolyn O'Brien, and Ronald Mincy, this report describes this initiative and gives detailed information about the five pilot sites that are providing employment services to low-income noncustodial parents in the following New York communities: Buffalo, Jamestown, New York City and Syracuse. It is the first of several reports that will describe this initiative and its results over the next two years.