Under proposals outlined in a green paper on family separation, parents who deliberately defy contact orders could be sentenced to community service and made to pay compensation.
Constitutional affairs secretary Lord Falconer said it was vital to offer greater flexibility to judges who were understandably reluctant to jail parents, most often mothers.
The paper promised legislation "at the earliest possible opportunity", but he would not say whether this would be included in the next Queen's speech.
The Solicitors Family Law Association said the proposed reforms of family justice, which include a greater emphasis on conciliation and mediation and a pledge to speed up the court process, had to be urgently accompanied by beefed up enforcement.
Some fathers' groups said the new enforcement powers, which could start with compulsory counselling and parenting classes, still did not go far enough. Fathers4Justice, for example, called for three-day mandatory sentences for parents who block contact.
The paper, which acknowledges that children fare better if they have a continuing relationship with both parents, was welcomed by other parenting groups, including Families Need Fathers, One Parent Families and helpline Parentline Plus.
The paper advocates a shift of role for Cafcass (the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) to allow it to deliver more conciliation and support services.
Veronica Burke of Nagalro (National Association of Guardians Ad Litem and Reporting Officers) said it was vital Cafcass's resources were not diverted from its core responsibility of assessing the needs of a child. She said: "A child's individual needs can be quite separate from those of adults."
