Non-resident Parents and Service Use

Abstract

The involvement of non-resident fathers in their children lives is becoming important because the direction of change in family law and child support is towards an increased level of shared parenting responsibility for children after separation. This not only has the potential to make the resident/non-resident parent dichotomy less relevant, but also places a new onus on services to recognise the importance of non-resident fathers in the ongoing life of children and to find ways to engage with them better. The study aims to support FaHCSIA’s interest in encouraging fathers to maintain involvement in their children’s lives after separation. The main research questions are: • How do mainstream public or non-governmental services address the needs of children who have a non-resident parent? • What policies and practices facilitate or inhibit engagement with services by these parents? This study involved a review of the literature that addresses policy and practice on this topic from the main English-speaking countries, along with a set of qualitative interviews with policy makers, service providers and experts to discuss issues raised in the review, to gain their perspectives on current policy arrangements and to identify further areas of good practice.