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Coming out is an extremely emotional and often nerve-racking experience for those in the LGBTQ community. Youth within the LGBTQ community are at increased risk for physical and mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, and drug and alcohol abuse. They are more likely to have physical and mental health outcomes on par with their straight and cisgender peers if they receive support from their families and communities. This 2018 blog post explains how parents can help their child by providing the care, support, and validation they need to thrive.

Halloween can often be a stressful time for children with allergies and their families because the treats handed out may contain common allergens. This article focuses on how to have a safe and fun Halloween, including participation in the Teal Pumpkin Project and focusing on the fun things your child can do rather than what they cannot do.

An NRFC team visited the Fathers and Families Center in Indianapolis on April 23 and 24, 2018. The team had the opportunity to talk with program staff, participants, graduates, and community partners. This NRFC Spotlight highlights aspects of the Fathers and Families Center work with fathers that may be of interest to other fatherhood practitioners, including Recruitment, Intake and Assessment, The Role of Partner Agencies, and Strong Fathers Classes.

To be a good teacher and role model for their children, fathers need a combination of parenting, relationship, and co-parenting skills. This webinar looked at ways in which responsible fatherhood programs are working to improve child well-being by helping fathers enhance their skills in those areas. Presenters discussed how the different skill sets intersect, described the work that their programs are doing with fathers, and offered tips for other fatherhood practitioners.

Presenters:

Men’s family formation behaviors have changed in recent decades. Men are delaying marriage and increasingly living with partners prior to getting married. Additionally, they are becoming fathers at increasingly older ages. These changes in behavior are mirrored by changes in men’s attitudes towards children, family life, marriage, and cohabitation.

In this data snapshot, we report data from original analyses of the National Survey of Family Growth and the General Social Survey, as well as from published resources on men’s attitudes, values, and expectations about family formation. (…

Children and youth who have been abused or neglected need safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments to recover from the trauma they've experienced. If you are parenting a child or youth with a history of abuse or neglect, you might have questions about the impacts and how you can help your child heal. This factsheet is intended to help parents (birth, foster, and adoptive) and other caregivers better understand the challenges of caring for a child or youth who has experienced maltreatment and learn about available resources for support. (Author abstract)

This research brief examines two aspects of low-income, nonresidential fathers' commitment to the parenting role: self-reports of the importance of the father role and perceptions of validation from others for being a good parent. The findings of this study show that both types of commitment to the father role are associated with fathers' reports of having a close relationship with his child(ren). Only validation from others is related to fathers' engagement in child-related activities. The implications of these findings for fatherhood programs are discussed in the brief.  (Author abstract…

An essential step in the child support process is delivering legal documents to the person named as a parent. This infographic summarizes results from a Georgia intervention that aimed to get parents to come in and accept documents voluntarily instead of using a sheriff or process server to deliver them. (Author abstract)

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is increasing its commitment of putting fathers and families at the center of its work. They are focused on true engagement across all programs and strongly encourage and support fathers in becoming more involved in the lives of their children. This blog post describes ACF’s vision to prioritize father engagement. (Author abstract modified) 

Getting fathers through the door is one of the biggest challenges faced by fatherhood programs, but then it is important to keep them involved while you work towards positive outcomes for them and their families. Please join us for an overview of relevant research and a conversation about lessons learned from outreach and retention work in responsible fatherhood programs.

Presenters:

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