A Population Based Examination of the Characteristics and Maltreatment History of Young Fathers in California

Background/Purpose: During the last several decades, increasing attention has been paid to adolescent childbearing. Demographic, familial, and environmental characteristics are well documented, both in terms of circumstances and consequences for the teen parent and their child. Very little attention, however, has focused on adolescent fathers. This population-level descriptive study examines paternal characteristics of young fathers in California, including their history of maltreatment and child protective service (CPS) involvement prior to becoming fathers.

Methods: California vital birth records were used to identify young men aged 12 to 19 years who were named as fathers on birth certificate of children born in 2010. These young fathers were then linked to historical child protective service records to determine paternal history of alleged and substantiated maltreatment, as well as placements in out-of-home foster care. Birth record variables were used to characterize paternal demographics: age, race/ethnicity, and education. Chi-Square tests were utilized to examine differences in levels of past child protection involvement across all characteristics.  

Results: In 2010, a total of 465,102 children were born with paternity established at the time of birth (91% of all births). Approximately 4% of these births were to adolescent fathers aged 12 to 19 years. Of the young fathers, 30% experienced prior allegations of maltreatment, 11% experienced a substantiated allegation, and 7% had previously been placed in out of home care. There were statistically significant differences in paternal age, race/ethnicity and education among young fathers with and without past CPS involvement. Forty-three percent of young black fathers, 40% of young white fathers, and 46% of Native American young fathers had a history of alleged child maltreatment. Young fathers with a CPS history were significantly younger (p<.001) compared to young fathers with no documented maltreatment history. Among fathers 18 years and over, those with a CPS history were less likely to have completed high school compared to young fathers with no CPS history (p<.001).      

Conclusions/Implications: This is the first population level examination which focuses on teen fathers and indicates that many of these young fathers have a history of alleged or substantiated maltreatment. The findings highlight an opportunity to engage this population in services to support healthy parenting to prevent next generation involvement with child protective services. This analysis also underscores the importance of having complete documentation of father’s information and demonstrates the need to improve the assessment of this information in administrative data systems.