Framing the Future of Co-Parenting Evaluation Research for the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network

The difficulties facing young economically disadvantaged unwed parents and their children – who are referred to as “fragile families” for lack of a better phrase – require a coordinated and constructive response from family focused practitioners, researchers and policy makers. Over the past decade, the federal government has been experimenting with educational programs directly intended to help at-risk couples strengthen romantic relationships, increase responsible fathering, and improve co-parenting cooperation (Hawkins, 2013). A common approach taken to the problem of unwed parenthood has been to help couples form healthy relationships and enduring marriages through a range of relationship education programs. However, early efforts to date have seen only marginal success. Because of the recent changes in how families are defined and constructed (Furstenberg, 2011), there is a need to develop new strategies – and perhaps new institutions – to help fathers and mothers learn to co-parent their children, regardless of whether or not they are married or romantically involved.