Fathers and Home Visiting: What Do We Know? [Presentation Slides].

This set of three slide presentations shares findings on the effectiveness of home visiting programs in engaging fathers. The first presentation discusses findings from a study that reviewed research on programs and services to support fathers, including the use of home visiting programs. It found home-visiting programs for fathers are uncommon but may be increasing, most programs are an expansion of services offered to mothers and children, programs may have difficulty convincing families and staff that the programs are for men, and that there is insufficient research to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy. The second slide presentation discusses the Parents as Teachers program and its outreach to fathers. It explains the benefits of father involvement and the expansion of the program to encourage fathers to become more engaged. The final presentation highlights efforts by the Healthy Families Massachusetts home visiting program to engage fathers and promote co-parenting. Strategies included staff training, the development of a resource guide to facilitate work with fathers, and development of benchmarks for father engagement.