Brief
This project involved organizing and offering a series of 12 fatherhood group meetings to low-income fathers whose families are already enrolled in a local site of the parent education and family support program, and hence already receive monthly home visits. Low-income fathers who participated in at least eight hours of skill-based parenting education through fatherhood group meetings had higher participation rates in home visits and reported improved skills and knowledge of parenting, enhanced communication/relationships with children, and improved patience and understanding of age-…
Brief
In the Conscious Fathering program, happening in hospitals all over Puget Sound, men are sitting down and learning about babies. There is something magical about a room full of guys in varying states of preparation for their journey to parenthood. Maybe they will discuss the room they are painting, where they last shopped for the latest car seat, or who rates what stroller the best. Almost never will they talk about the latest fathering book they read.
Brief
When most people think about parent-child reading activities, they likely picture a mother quietly reading to her children. Very few people would envision a reading event where fathers and children are acting like donkeys, elephants, and gorillas. That is exactly what happens, however, at a Dad and Kid Reading Night sponsored by Strong Fathers-Strong Families. Dad and Kid Reading Night encourages and teaches fathers to read to their children. The books are carefully chosen both to reflect the father child dynamic and to facilitate lively activity.
Brief
This resource discusses the difference between "deadbeat" and "dead broke" fathers. The overview provides insight on how practitioners can encourage low-income fathers and how to show fathers that their presence in their children's lives is important and essential.
Webinar
This webinar presented ideas, strategies and resources to use in working with dads to enhance their parenting knowledge and skills. Topics included: sharing strategies programs might use to show fathers the importance of early father-infant bonding; looking at ways to help fathers increase their understanding of child development and age-appropriate behavior; considering approaches to engage fathers in discussion about appropriate child discipline; and, providing examples of activities that two of your fellow grantees have used to help fathers with parenting knowledge and skills. (Author…
Webinar
A big part of fatherhood work is helping fathers "tell their story" to themselves, their children and their partners. As John Badalament pointed out in our April webinar, it is important that fathers "be known" to their children. It is also important that your fatherhood program be known to the community, particularly to potential participants and funders. This webinar looked at ways to tell that story and included: capturing the right quantitative and qualitative data; how to interpret and describe that data for diverse audiences; examples of brochures and other written materials;…
Brief
Low-skilled men, especially minorities, typically work at low levels and provide little support for their children. Conservatives blame this on government willingness to support families, which frees the fathers from responsibility, while liberals say that men are denied work by racial bias or the economy--either a lack of jobs or low wages, which depress the incentive to work. The evidence for all these theories is weak. Thus, changing program benefits or incentives is unlikely to solve the men's work problem. More promising is the idea of linking assistance with administrative requirements…
Brief
Taking risks is fairly common in adolescence. Risky behaviors can be associated with serious, long-term, and -- in some cases -- life-threatening consequences. This is especially the case when adolescents engage in more than one harmful behavior. The tendency for risky behaviors to co-occur has been well-studied. Yet prevention efforts traditionally have taken a targeted approach, seeking to prevent a single risky behavior. A more powerful and cost-effective approach may be to employ strategies designed to address factors associated with multiple risky behaviors. This Research Brief brings…
Brief
New York launched a pilot employment program to help parents behind in their child support in four communities between 2006 and 2009. The program was part of the state's Strengthening Families Through Stronger Fathers Initiative. Our evaluation found that the program's combination of employment assistance, case management, and other support services substantially increased the earnings and child support payments of disadvantaged parents who were not meeting their child support obligations.
Fact Sheet, Brief
Reports the results of a longitudinal study of youth from military families and their caregivers concerning their emotional well-being and how well they are coping with servicemembers' extended deployments. (Author abstract)
