Where to Find Young Men – Child Support Quarterly

Child support agencies struggle to find ways to reach young men and communicate with them about paternity and child support before they become embroiled in the child support system. The outreach efforts conducted to date at hospitals and birthing centers, prenatal programs, and WIC programs, are typically sparsely attended by men (See companion article, “Outreaching to Expectant and New Parents about Paternity and Child Support: Opportunities and Challenges.”) As a result, it remains a challenge to figure out where and how to reach young men and communicate with them.

As part of its Getting Men Involved in Pregnancy Planning and Prevention Project, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy retained the Center for Policy Research to conduct a thorough examination of potential avenues and approaches to reaching young men ages 18-30 to message about pregnancy prevention (Pearson and Legler, 2008). This article uses that research to explore the opportunities and challenges that child support agencies might encounter if they try to reach a similar population of young men and deliver messages about paternity and child support.