For the past two decades, the nation's efforts to reform the welfare system and the child support system have often proceeded on separate tracks. However, there has been a growing realization that neither has very explicitly considered how to work with the group of men who bridge them both: low-income noncustodial fathers whose children receive welfare. The Parents' Fair Share (PFS) Demonstration, run from 1994 to 1996, was aimed at increasing the ability of these fathers to attain well-paying jobs, increase their child support payments — to increase their involvement in parenting in other ways. These reports — one examining the effectiveness of the PFS approach at increasing fathers' financial and nonfinancial involvement with their children and the other examining the effectiveness of the PFS approach at increasing fathers' employment and earnings — provide important insights into policies aimed at this key group.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, U.S. Department of Labor, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Smith Richardson Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Ford Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Northwest Area Foundation