This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse brief discusses some of the key issues facing American Indian/ Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Indigenous families in the United States, particularly fathers. The brief highlights three programs that are working with AI/AN fathers to strengthen their roles in Native families, includes an overview of each program, and provides a discussion of key takeaways to help other programs better serve AI/AN fathers and their families.

This 2024 National Fatherhood Summit session included leadership from the federal Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) programs who reflected on some of the important lessons learned over the past five years and discussed potential fruitful directions for the next five years. Then leadership engaged in a Q&A with the audience to answer attendees' questions and hear ideas on how HMRF programming can be adapted to contexts across the country. Federal HMRF programs will use discussions like this to inform the anticipated 2025 Notices of Funding Opportunity.

Earlier this year, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) convened in Georgia for the 2024 National Fatherhood Summit and brought together fathers; fatherhood practitioners and advocates; federal, state, and local government leaders; tribal representatives; social services agency representatives; researchers; and representatives from institutions of higher learning from across the nation to share knowledge, best practices, and innovative strategies for engaging and supporting dads. Over two and a half days, participants immersed themselves in a community of passionate changemakers as they explored cutting-edge research, impactful program models, and policy recommendations. Participants uncovered ways to enhance services and systems that empower fathers to be an active, loving presence in their children's lives and pillars of strength in their communities.

OFA has released this webpage that reflects the agenda for the 2024 Summit and contains materials and recordings (as available, with permission) for sessions

Romantic relationships are a common part of adolescence. However, not all relationships are healthy. This Office of Justice Programs special feature resource highlights an overview of teen dating violence, such as a definition as well as signs, statistics, and prevention methods. Additional publications and resources are available.

Helping young people understand the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships is a key part of preventing all forms of violence, including dating violence and human trafficking. By providing opportunities for youth to observe healthy interactions and practicing safe relationship skills, everyone can work to prevent human trafficking. This Administration for Children and Families blogpost offers healthy behaviors to practice with children as well as additional resources that can help build healthy relationships and prevent violence.

The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) hosted a Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month Event in February 2023 and featured a panel of youth engaged in violence prevention efforts in their communities. This recording includes the remarks from Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta and OVW Acting Director Allison Randall. The recording is accompanied by a transcript of the Associate Attorney General’s speech.

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Program has teamed up with love is respect to produce a podcast to speak to young people about healthy relationships. In this episode, the group discussed the importance of understanding the warning signs of dating violence, setting healthy boundaries, raising awareness, and promoting safe and healthy relationships.

Addressing teen dating violence, which includes physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, is a priority for healthy youth development. Teens who experience dating violence – particularly when their victimizations go untreated – may be at increased risk for a range of negative outcomes, including involvement in further intimate partner violence as adults. This National Institute of Justice (NIJ) factsheet discusses what has been learned from NIJ-sponsored research about how to understand and respond to teen dating violence. NIJ elaborates on the following five things about teen dating violence:

1. Teen dating relationships that involve violence often involve mutual violence; 
2. Teen dating violence does not tend to occur in single, isolated instances;
3. A range of risk factors are associated with becoming involved in teen dating violence;
4. Teen dating violence is associated with a range of short- and long-term negative outcomes; and
5. Programs to reduce teen dating violence perpetration and victimization have demonstrated effectiveness.

Recognizing and responding to teen dating violence requires an awareness of the prevalence of dating violence, indicators of abuse in relationships, and steps to take if someone is experiencing dating violence. Dating violence is often overlooked due to preconceived ideas about what abuse looks like in relationships or the false assumption that it is not prevalent in young people's relationships. This toolkit begins with an overview of teen dating violence for all audiences and the subsequent sections provide relevant information directed to parents and students as well as school staff. Case managers and advocates can navigate the modules for relevant resources.