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June 23, 2006

What About the Dads? Child Welfare Agencies' Efforts to Identify, Locate, and Involve Nonresident Fathers

This study documents that nonresident fathers of children in foster care are not often involved in case planning efforts and nearly half are never contacted by the child welfare agency during their child's stay in foster care. By not reaching out to fathers, caseworkers may overlook potential social connections and resources that could help to achieve permanency for the child. A total of 1,222 local agency caseworkers were interviewed by phone about 1,958 specific cases between October 2004 and February 2005 to examine front-line practices related to nonresident fathers. Interviewers achieved an 83% response rate to the survey.

Posted by Gary Holden at June 23, 2006 4:38 PM