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For more information
about SFFI,
please contact Jeff Johnson:
 

jjohnson@npcl.org
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Strengthening Fragile Families Initiatives was launched by the Ford Foundation to encourage further research and development of effective policies, in developing services that could enable both fathers and mothers to meet their responsibilities to their children.

The development focus areas of SFFI are:

Research. Basic research on the relationships of young, low skilled, unwed couples before, during and shortly after their children are born, and during the course of child rearing; research on income-security (welfare, child-support enforcement, related tax and transfer) policies on these parents and children.

Policy.Demonstration and testing of alternative policies and the coordination of these policies with community-based service-delivery programs demonstrating practices that effectively strengthen fragile families.

Practice. Replication and extension of successful programs, creation of means for Sharing demonstrated "best practices" such as:

  • Community-based programs for fragile families.
  • "Team parenting," helping unwed parents to collaborate in promoting their children’s well being.
  • Assistance to low-skilled fathers in increasing both their earning potential and financial support for their children.
  • Professionalization
 
Dialogue.Between men’s and women’s groups. Locally and nationally, about the advantages and risks of policies and practices-including, among others, issues of domestic violence and gender equity; discussions aimed at reconciling the views of the traditional, pro-marriage family movement with the concept of fragile families, which encompasses the notion that even where marriage is unfeasible, numerous opportunities exist for intervention that will benefit their children.

Communications. Outreach efforts to policy makers, researchers, other grant makers, and the broader public, to promote the idea of reconnecting fathers and families.

The Ford Foundation supported the creation of the following organizations to implement the SFFI Program:

  • Center on Fathers, Families and Public Policy (CFFPP) in Madison , Wisconsin
  • National   Center for Strategic Nonprofit Planning and Community Leadership (NPCL), now known as the National Partnership for Community Leadership
  • National Practitioners Network for Fathers and Families (NPNFF)

 

The Ford Foundation also supported relevant work of certain existing organizations, including Princeton University, Columbia University, the Urban Institute in Washington, and the National Center for Fathers and Families (NCOFF) in Philadelphia, the latter originally founded with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

 

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