Father Engagement Strategies for Including Fathers in Our Work Obj - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Father Engagement

Strategies for Including Fathers in Our Work

Obj ectives

• Identify strategies to engage fathers more

effectively in public health programming

• Identify existing programs that are successful in

reaching young fathers

• Discuss how to propose strategies to be more

inclusive of male participants in our work

Importance of Father Involvement

Cognitive Developm ent

• Infants more cognitively competent
• Toddlers are better problem solvers
• Higher IQ by age 3
• Better academic achievers

(Allen and Daly, 2007)

Continued..

Em otional Developm ent

• Infants more likely to be securely attached
• More resilient in stressful situations
• More eager to explore their environment
• Less depression
• Greater internal locus of control

(Allen and Daly, 2007)

Continued..

Other Benefits

• More likely to provide economic support
• More likely to positively socialize with the

mother.

• Attached Children have more self-confidence

and less anxiety.

(National Family Preservation Network, 2012)

Common Barriers to Engagement

Mother of the Child

• Refusal to identify the father
• Not wanting the father to be involved
• “

Gatekeeper” role

• Som etim es the m other has valid reasons to keep

the father aw ay

(National Family Preservation Network, 2012)

Continued…

Fathers not living with the child

• 1 in 3 children reside without their biological

father

• More than 20 million children in the US
• Very common among teen fathers

(US Census Bureau, 2013)

Continued…

Good Father vs Bad Father Perspective

• Tendency to label fathers as “all good” or “all

bad”

• This can impact a worker’s interactions with a

father

• Mother’s with bad relationships can have a

strong influence with this perspective.

(Maxwell, Scourfield, Featherstone, Holland, and Tolman, 2012)

Continued…

Child Welfare Traditional Practices

• Most workers focus on the mother
• Tendency to exclude fathers or make little effort

to include them

• Assumption of mother being the primary

caretaker

(Maxwell et al. , 2012)

Continued…

Fathers as reluctant clients

• Some tend to avoid child protections workers
• Fear of investigation, judgement, or criticism of

parenting.

• Past experiences can also contribute to their

reluctance.

(Maxwell et al. , 2012)

S trategies to Engage

Early Identification and Involvem ent

• Invite fathers early in the process
• Ask mothers about fathers early and encourage

their participation

• Early involvement corresponds with higher

engagement in the future

(Maxwell et al. , 2012)

S trategies to Engage

Make services relevant to fathers

• Addressing employment issues
• Fathers prefer activity based approaches vs

classroom based.

• ASK fathers what they want/ need

(Maxwell et al. , 2012)

S trategies to Engage

Deal with our own biases

• Assume the dad wants to be involved
• Treat each case on an individual basis
• Suspend judgements and listen to all sides

S trategies to Engage

Becom e Dad Friendly

• Does paperwork ask for father information?
• Do brochures include pictures of fathers?
• Do you make equal eye contact with both

parents during meetings?

• Do you ask mom and dad specific questions?
• Do you positively reinforce dad’s involvement?

MI-APPP: “ The Parenthood Program”

• Serving Pregnant & Parenting Teens

▫ 2 Lead Case Managers; 1 Case Manager Asst. ▫ Engaged over 30 teen parents

• Servicing Mothers & Fathers ages 13-21
• Goal: Engage over 12 teen Fathers; Currently at

6

• Strength Based Case Management

Our Father’s Accomplishments

• 3 Fathers have graduated from H.S.
• 3 Fathers are currently employed
• 2 Fathers currently planning for College
• All active Fathers in MI-APPP are fully engaged

in their child's life

• 100% success rate with our Fathers developing

new healthy supports and building new relationships

Tips Working With Teen Fathers

• Hiring Male Staff
• Teen Fathers value relationships more than

programming

• Keep the teen Father involved with program

planning

• Provide incentives
• Identifying their support
• Outings & activities of their interest (i.e.

Attending Sporting Events, Going to the gym, playing video games)

Barbershop Talks

Video

• Early Head Start program in Vermont
• Current program successfully engaging fathers
• http:/ / youtu.be/ Ep-GqhronTU

References

Allen, S., & Kerry, D. (2007) The effects of father involvement: An updated research summary of the evidence. Retrieved from http:/ / www.fira.ca/ cms/ documents/ 29/ Effects_of_Father_Involvement.pdf National Family Preservation Network, (2012), IFPS guide to father involvem ent. Retrieved from http:/ / www.nfpn.org/ Portals/ 0/ Documents/ ifps-father-guide.pdf U.S. Census Bureau. “America’s families and living arrangements. (2013). Washington DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013. Retrieved from http:/ / www.census.gov/ hhes/ families/ data/ cps2013.html Maxwell, N., Scourfield, J., Featherstone, B., Holland, S. and Tolman, R. (2012) Engaging fathers in child welfare services: A narrative review of recent research evidence. Child and Fam ily Social Work, 17 (2): 160-169. Retrieved from http:/ / onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/ 10.1111/ j.1365- 2206.2012.00827.x/ abstract