Collaborating to Provide a Gateway to Services and Supports for Noncustodial Fathers

Tova Walsh and Helenia Quince
October 2024
CSRA-22-24-T13
Link to CSRA-2022-2024-T13 (PDF)

In this project, we explored how Milwaukee County Child Support Services (CSS), the Milwaukee Fatherhood Coalition (MFC), and other organizations that serve noncustodial fathers in Milwaukee County—in the areas of parenting, employment, education, health, and more—partner to meet the full array of fathers’ needs in order to strengthen families and increase child well-being.

Data were gathered between October 2023 – April 2024 through focus groups with noncustodial fathers (N=35) and individual interviews with service providers (N=22). Participants were recruited through MFC, an entity working closely with CSS and father- and family-serving agencies throughout Milwaukee. Thematic analysis of the data identified themes related to strengths and limitations of existing services and service collaborations to facilitate child support payments, employment, and paternal engagement; and recommendations for enhancing inter-agency collaboration to increase support for fathers and families in Milwaukee.

Focus group findings illuminate numerous barriers to access and gaps in available services for noncustodial fathers. Participants described a sense of futility—due to what they perceive as unmanageable child support payments and debt—as a barrier to seeking out and engaging in services; needs for both information and tangible guidance, and insufficient access to the latter; trusted referral sources as essential to service uptake; and the desire to have all of their needs recognized and addressed coherently. Findings from interviews with service providers both reinforce and expand upon findings from the focus group data. Service providers unanimously recognized inter-agency collaboration as essential to serving fathers well, yet acknowledged tensions that arise. They recognized interpersonal relationships as essential to collaboration; identified a need for expanded engagement of noncustodial fathers alongside other family members, and not simply in a silo; and simultaneously recognized progress made in Milwaukee and the need for continued efforts to increase collaboration to serve noncustodial fathers more fully and equitably. Together, findings from this project provide insight into noncustodial fathers’ experiences seeking and accessing services in Milwaukee and how organizations partner to meet noncustodial fathers’ service needs.

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