title: Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Programming: Factors Affecting Low-Income Fathers' Involvement in Child Protection Services and Court-Restricted Access to Their Children.
abstract: This study investigates how unemployment, traumatic sexual experiences, substance use, intimate partner violence, and parental involvement collectively contribute to involvement with child protective system (CPS) and court-restricted access to children among low-income, ethnically diverse fathers. Participants were 164 fathers involved in a statewide fatherhood program. The majority of the fathers in the program were unemployed (76%) and ethnic minorities (66%). Logistic regression revealed that traumatic sexual experiences and number of children were significant predictors of CPS involvement, whereas employment and traumatic sexual experience were associated with court-restricted access to their children. The results elucidate that clinicians and father-hood programs may need to attend to the history of traumatic experiences, as well as other contextual factors, of fathers and identify how, through trauma-focused interventions, to positively affect them and their children.
authors.affiliation: Division of Prevention and Community Research, The Consultation Center, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Derrick M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Derek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Natasha D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: Trace
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kershaw
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Judkins
keywords: child protective services; ethnic minorities; fathers; low-income; sexual trauma