Fathering Courts Resource Guide

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Resource Guide

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Fathering Court or Accountability Court is a problem solving court that uses alternatives to incarceration in an attempt to assist non-custodial parents with unpaid child support. The purpose is to increase child support payments, reduce expenditures by the state, and improve relationships between non-custodial parents and their children. The first fathering court began in Jackson, Missouri in 1998. As with most problem solving courts there are various models including a hybrid fathering/reentry court in Washington, D.C. Interagency collaboration is an important element of these programs which may include family courts or IV-D Courts, the Office of the Attorney General, Child Support Enforcement, Workforce agencies, and other service or treatment providers. Problem solving court principles are applied and resources, education and training are provided in order to enhance the delinquent parent’s employment options.

Links to related online resources are listed below. Non-digitized publications may be borrowed from the NCSC Library; call numbers are provided.

Child Support Enforcement

Child Support and the Court. The Child Support and the Court website provides a wide variety of information on using problem solving court methods for enforcing child support.

Noncustodial Parents: Summaries of Research. (2009). Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of Children and Families, Washington, D.C. This is a state by state listing of programs that assist noncustodial parents many of which include court involvement.

Fatherhood Initiatives

Responsible Fatherhood Programs. (June 2010). Statement by David Hansell, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Administration for Children and Families U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) before Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Income United States House of Representatives

Sorensen, Elaine, Carolyn O'Brien, and Ronald B. Mincy Strengthening Families Through Stronger Fathers Initiative. (2009). The Urban Institute, for the New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance This initiative authorizes the implementation of two innovative approaches to help low-income noncustodial parents (nearly all of whom are fathers) to work and pay their child support in full.

Schroeder, Daniel and Nicholas Doughty Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Program Impact Analysis. (2009). Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin This is a review of a pilot project linking IV-D courts, OAG child support, and local workforce development boards.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The purpose of this MOU is to establish a formal partnership between the Birmingham Fatherhood Initiative and the Jefferson County Family Court to prevent child abuse and neglect through service provision to non-custodial fathers.

Georgia Fatherhood Program . This provides judges an alternative to jailing non custodial parents who are behind on support.

Non Custodial Parent Choices. This program is a collaborative effort of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), local workforce development boards, and family court judges.

The Family Employment and Support Program (FESP) . This court-supervised program in Baltimore, Maryland assists non-custodial parents who are behind in their child support payments. Participants are required to submit employment applications and meet with court coordinators weekly for job referrals.

Macoubrie, Jane and Daniel J. Hall. Achieving the Full Potential of Reentry and Fathering Courts. (March 2010). National Center for State Courts.

This report reviews the fathering court movement and the convergence with reentry court programs.

Jane Macoubrie. Converging Trends in Fathering and Reentry Courts. (2010).

Father's problem-solving courts are increasing across the country, as are programs for ex-prisoners. This article reviews the current state of the field, the diverse roles courts currently have, and discusses success factors not usually identified as best practices in problem-solving courts.

Fathering Court Programs

D.C. Superior Court’s Fathering Court Program honored by Harvard. (September 2010). This press release describes D.C.’s program which helps fathers just out of prison reconnect with their children. The program has been given the Bright Ideas award offered through the Innovations in Government Program, at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School.

Fathering Court Getting to the Heart of Child Support. (October 2009). National Center for Fathering This report summarizes the development of this problem solving court model which provides an alternative to prosecution and incarceration of individuals who are behind on their child support.

Ashton, Joy Child Support Dockets Benefit from Using Problem-Solving Court Principles . (2006). National Association of Judicial State Educators This article describes the application of problem-solving principles to child support dockets.

Connecticut Family Support Magistrate Court. The Connecticut Family Support Magistrate Court (IV-D court) has statutory authority to "enter an order for the obligor's participation in an education, training, skill-building, work, rehabilitation or other similar program" designed to increase the obligor's ability to fulfill the duty to support.

Fathering Court. District of Columbia Superior Court. This is a voluntary court proceeding and re-entry program operated through the DC Superior Court. Participants must have child support orders for children who live in the District of Columbia, and the legal custodian/guardian of the child (or children) must agree to support the overall efforts of the program.

Jackson County, Missouri Fathering Court . The Fathering Court was designed to establish financial responsibility of parents for their children. Fathers who are charged with criminal non-support may have the opportunity to participate. Rehabilitation through the Fathering Program provides an alternative to a criminal record and a jail sentence.

Hall County Parental Accountability Court . (Summer 1).