The Importance of Fathers in the Healthy Development of Children

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Family and Community Violence and Prevention Project and 50/50 Parenting
Working to Prevent Family Violence and to Improve Couples' Relationships

The Center for Fathers, Families, and Workforce Development (CFWD), developed to meet the needs of fathers, their families, and low-income individuals in the Baltimore, Maryland area, empowers low-income families by enhancing the ability of men to fulfill their roles as fathers and helping men and women to contribute to their families as wage earners. Two beliefs are central to the CFWD approach: that men want to be emotionally and financially responsible for their children and that poverty can hinder parental involvement and support.

CFWD collaborated with the House of Ruth (HR) to facilitate a cross-exchange of information (e.g., staff cross-training in respective areas, resources, and services in the prevention and intervention of family violence). Program participants engage in activities that promote prevention and are offered batterer intervention services by the House of Ruth. CFWD and HR have increased the capacity of services to the participants by offering:

• Prevention (education and awareness) and intervention programs consisting of intensive case management (e.g., home visits; individualized counseling sessions; support that focuses on domestic violence issues; domestic violence-focused workshops; counseling based upon curriculum modules—the CFWD/HR training manual, the Healthy Start Fatherhood Journal, and the National Center for Program Leadership Fatherhood Development curriculum—that address conflict resolution, anger management, and communication skills).
• Voluntary referrals to the House of Ruth's batterer intervention services (22-week curriculum).

CFWD also organized a team parenting program called 50/50 Parenting, which recognizes that never-married parents, whether or not they are still a couple, may need support in working together for the health and well-being of their children. Their support team might include the children's grandparents, the parents' new spouses or partners, and influential "others" in the family's life. The overarching goal of the 50/50 Parenting program is to promote the well-being of low-income children by encouraging healthy relationships between their biological parents. Research indicates that children have the best outcomes when they are raised in families headed by two biological, married parents who have a healthy, stable relationship. Thus, this program has two goals. First, it will help couples that want to marry to gain the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need to develop and sustain a healthy marriage. Second, it also will help low-income mothers and fathers for whom marriage is not an option to form healthy co-parenting relationships. The curriculum includes sessions for a variety of audiences. The program is guided by the following principles:

• Participation is voluntary at all times. The curriculum will acknowledge that marriage is not appropriate for, legally accessible to, or desired by everyone.
• The program will be offered in a style that is open and respectful to participants from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, and religions.
• The curriculum will promote a model of "healthy" and "safe" marriages based on respect between equals.
• Efforts to promote marriages or 50-50 parenting relationships should never supersede nor compromise the safety of the children or the mother.
• Race, culture, and socioeconomic status have a profound impact on the gender roles and identities of individuals coming for services. Efforts should be taken to address gender-role stereotypes that lessen the ability of mothers and fathers in fragile families to form healthy marriages or to work cooperatively in the best interest of their children (e.g., the belief in male privilege and a man's right to dominate his female partner; the belief that mothers are innately superior to fathers in the parenting arena).
• Anger is a normal feeling, and conflict is a natural and normal occurrence in relationships. Violence, however, is not the natural result of conflict between intimate partners. Violence is a choice and is an unacceptable way to resolve conflicts in relationships or to discipline children.
• The curriculum addresses unemployment, incarceration, substance abuse, depression, or physical illness which can make it difficult to have a healthy relationship.

For more information, contact:

Center for Fathers, Families, and Workforce Development
3002 Druid Park Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215-7800
Phone: 410.367.5691
Fax: 410.367.4246

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