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The author of this blog post points out that the focus of child protection social workers is generally much more on mothers than on fathers and explains that even when fathers are included they are often viewed through a “risk lens”. He considers some of the underlying reasons for this disparity, discusses the need to better understand the difficulties that fathers may face, and offers tips to help social workers adjust the way they support fathers.
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On behalf of the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Building Bridges and Bonds (B3) study partnered with Responsible Fatherhood programs and experts in the field to identify high-priority questions and emerging service approaches. Programs use a number of promising models to work with fathers, but rigorous studies have not yet shown which are effective and worth expanding or replicating.
The B3 team is rigorously evaluating three new and emerging service approaches…
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In August 2015, the HHS Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) awarded the New Hampshire Department of Education a multi-year Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) Program grant to support teen fathers and their families. The E3 Teen Fatherhood Program aims to increase the likelihood that teen fathers will develop skills and knowledge to lead successful lives and to fully engage in the parenting of their child(ren). To this end, the E3 program approach is to improve education, employment, and family engagement for teen fathers and to build a sustainable network of stakeholders and partners to serve the…
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This publication introduces an assessment and planning tool to help nonprofits evaluate their parent engagement efforts and chart a path toward deeper partnerships with parents and caregivers. The tool spans just eight pages, with accompanying text outlining how to use it, how to assess its results and what real-world strategies and programs are already in play — and working — to boost parent engagement. (Author Abstract)
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This brief describes efforts in Kansas, Texas, and Kentucky to implement innovative practices to engage fathers and paternal relatives in the lives of children involved with the child welfare system. Kansas has changed the word "parent" to the phrase "mother and father" throughout the Children and Family Services policy manual, provides training on father engagement, strengthened requirements for contacting relatives of children entering foster care, and sponsors an annual Fatherhood Summit. Texas has created the State-level position of Fatherhood Program Specialist to spearhead a…
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This article highlights an initiative by the Nashua New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) District Office to facilitate visitation between children in out-of-home placements and birth fathers and mothers within 24 hours of removal and to involve the children in deciding those they want to visit them. The benefits of timely initial visitations are discussed, a case study is shared, and implications for permanency planning are explored.
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In recent years there has been considerable research from the US on positive outcomes for children whose fathers become ‘involved’ in their care. The purpose of a UK study carried out by Drs. Eirini Flouri and Ann Buchanan at the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford, was to discover whether there was similar evidence in the UK using longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS). NCDS is an ongoing longitudinal study of some 17,000 children who were born in England, Wales and Scotland in one week in 1958. These children have been followed up at…
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Many children experience adversity in the form of poverty, abuse or neglect, homelessness, or other conditions that make them vulnerable to the damaging effects of chronic stress. New research reveals that chronic stress alters their rapidly developing biological systems in ways that undermine their ability to succeed in school and in life. The good news is that we have strong evidence for programs and approaches that policy makers could use to help these children overcome the effects of stress. Home visitation and early childhood health care can give parents much-needed support and…
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This webpage describes the Family Networks Project, developed to assess the initial efficacy of Stepping Stones Triple P-Positive Parenting Program with parents of children below age two with developmental disabilities to strengthen families and prevent child maltreatment.
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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…
