Effectively involving fathers in protecting and parenting their children sometimes presents unique challenges and may require special strategies. Find related organizations and tips and resources for engaging fathers in caring for their children.
Supporting Fatherhood at a Community Level
Caring Dads
Offers intervention to fathers, trains communities in engaging, assessing, and intervening with high-risk men, and conducts research to improve outcomes.
Early Implementation of Findings From Responsible Fatherhood Reentry Projects
Fontaine, Rossman, & Cramer (2015)
Focuses on the initial Centered Responsible Fatherhood Ex-Prisoner Reentry Pilot Projects funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, specifically the programs’ administration and structure, target populations, and prerelease and post release activities. These programs provide soon-to-be and recently released fathers and their families with an array of responsible parenting, healthy relationship, and economic stability services to help stabilize the fathers and their families.
Fatherhood Research to Practice Network
Presents a 5-year national project that (1) promotes rigorous evaluation of fatherhood programs that serve low-income fathers, (2) expands the number of researchers and practitioners collaborating to evaluate fatherhood programs through in-person and virtual trainings, and (3) disseminates information, including new evaluation findings, that lead to effective fatherhood practice and evaluation research.
Father Involvement and Child Welfare: The Voices of Men of Color
Brodie, Paddock, Gilliam, & Chavez (2014)
Journal of Social Work Values & Ethics, 11(1)
Analyzes how unintentional bias can affect paternal involvement in child welfare case management through focus groups of fathers from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Implementing Parent Education in Fatherhood Programs: Putting Lessons From Research Into Practice (PDF - 333 KB)
National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse. Mathematica Policy Research (2014)
Summarizes parent education programs that can inform fatherhood programs, including two promising service delivery components, describes the two components, provides suggestions for implementing them in fatherhood programs, highlights examples from a small number of programs and curricula that include these components, and provides suggestions for overcoming implementation challenges.
Learning Resources for Strengthening Father Engagement in Child Welfare
North Carolina Division of Social Services & Family Support and Child Welfare Services Statewide Training Partnership (2013)
Training Matters, 14(2)
Presents social workers in North Carolina with a list of resources explaining the important contributions fathers can make to children's well-being and the benefits of healthy father involvement in promoting child development.
National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System Discretionary Grant Cluster
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Provides program information on the four sub grants of the National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System including, Engaging Fathers Project (Indiana), Fathers Engagement Project (Washington), Non-Resident Fathers in the Child Welfare System (Colorado), Tarrant County (TX) Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System.
Supporting Fatherhood at an Individual Level
Co-Parenting and Low-Income Fathers' Satisfaction With Parenting (PDF - 252 KB)
Levine, Kaufman, Hammar, & Fagan (2015)
Outlines the importance of fatherhood programs that promote healthy coparenting as a means to encourage active and engaged father-child relationships. The brief reviews findings on low-income nonresidential fathers' views of coparenting and satisfaction with their relationships with their children.
Fathering Activities
FatherWork, Brigham Young University
Activities for fathers categorized by eight different stages in the child's life.
Finding Your Way: Guides for Fathers in Child Protection Cases (PDF - 15,811KB)
National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System (2011)
Studies have shown that increased father engagement in children's lives results in better outcomes for children and families. This series of short guides provide important tips for non-custodial fathers involved in child protection cases, focusing on issues such as the father's legal rights, child support and courtroom etiquette. They include information written specifically for fathers on how they can be active participants in their children's case and successfully navigate the protection system.
National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse
Promoting Responsible Fatherhood and Strong Communities
Connects visitors with current research about strengthening the father role in families in the context of individual tips and programmatic design.
Resources for Dads
National Fatherhood Initiative
Programs, brochures, articles, and other resources to become a better father.
Strategies for Practice in Helping Fathers Step up to the Plate and Stay Engaged
Kirven (2014)
Cleveland State University
Journal of Family Strengths, 14(1)
Provides practitioners with the tools to implement family strengths perspective and encourage them to incorporate family strengths into working with fathers. Clinical impressions are discussed, including Holistic Integration Techniques and other intervention strategies for practitioners to implement.