This is a guest blog written by NFI Sr. Program Support Consultant, Ave Mulhern. If you would like to blog for us, please send an email.
In my role at NFI as a Senior Program Support Consultant, I talk to people from across the U.S. regarding the topic of fatherhood. Sometimes it is a dad looking for ways to connect with his child, and many times it's an organization looking for our great resources or trainings; in general, I speak to impassioned people who simply see the need to engage fathers in their community, and specifically, to educate the community on the impact father absence is having.
And very often, no matter what their role or background, they just don’t know how or where to start a Fatherhood Initiative.
To begin, I point them to the father absence Statistics section on our website www.fatherhood.org. There, they can sharpen their understanding of the impact of father absence on common societal issues and concerns such as Poverty, Education, Emotional/Behavioral Problems, Teen Pregnancy, Childhood Obesity, and more. This helps individuals and organizations "make the case" for a fatherhood inititive, whether it be to a boss, a community organization, or even a town Mayor.
Many are astounded to see that this kind of data shows a direct connection between father absence and the issues communities and children face each and every day.
For example, the Father Factor in Maternal & Child Health area shows: Babies with a father’s name on the birth certificate are 4 times more likely to live past 1 year of age. Source: Alio, A.P., Mbah, A.K., Kornosky, J.L., Marty, P.J. & Salihu, H.M. "The Impact of Paternal Involvement on Feto-Infant Morbidity among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics". Matern Child Health J. 2010; 14(5): 735-41.
And the Father Factor in Teen Pregnancy shows: Adolescent girls who reported higher levels of relationship quality with their fathers were less likely to have sex before age 16, compared with adolescent girls who reported lower levels of father-daughter relationship quality. Source: Ikramullah, E., Manlove, J., Cui, C., & Moore, K. A. (2009). Parents matter: The role of parents in teens’ decisions about sex. Washington, D.C.: Child Trends.
Then, for those looking to provide specific research on both the cost of father absence and the benefits of father involvement, I recommend Father Facts™ 6, a comprehensive survey of the last 5 years of Census Bureau data and social science research. This collection of data gives a clear picture of the causes and consequences of father absence, and provides the reader with the data needed to make the case for father involvement!
NFI also has a great tool for those who want to start working with fathers in their community but are not sure how… A Guide to Strengthening Fatherhood in Your Community™ provides helpful and practical information on how to start your own organization, start serving fathers from an existing organization, offer fatherhood programming in your community, raise funds, and mobilize your community around the issue of father absence. This is the most comprehensive resource available for those interested in promoting father involvement locally.
And from here, some next steps:
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
This is a guest blog written by NFI Vice President of Development and Communication, Vincent DiCaro. If you would like to blog for us, please send an email.
As we detailed in a recent post here on this blog, program sustainability is a critical factor in determining the overall success of fatherhood programs around the country.
However, there is a general lack of funding available for organizations to obtain the kinds of capacity-building training and services they need to build long-term sustainability.
That is why we have created an initiative to inform Congress that federal fatherhood grantees should be allowed to use a portion of their funds to procure capacity-building services and training, such as leadership development, organizational development, program development, and community engagement.
While service delivery is the most important use of grant funds, those services need to be delivered by effective organizations – and that is where capacity-building comes in. It will help organizations do a better job serving fathers and ultimately lead to better outcomes for children.
We have set up a page on our website where individuals and organizations like yours -- who are doing the work each day to connect fathers to their children -- can make their voices heard. The grant program for fatherhood programs will be reviewed later this year, so now is the time to ensure that future grantees will have the flexibility to use some of their grant funds for capacity-building.
Here is what we would like for you to do:
As an organization – Sign on to become an "endorsing organization" of this effort to allow federal fatherhood grantees to use a portion of their funds for capacity-building services. Your organization's name will be listed alongside National Fatherhood Initiative as a supporter or this important advocacy effort. We will then inform Congress and the White House of all the organizations that are behind this effort.
As an individual – Use our special webpage to send your opinion directly to your members of Congress. The more voices that come on board, the more persuasive we can be!
Thank you so much in advance for helping us in this important effort. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact Vincent DiCaro (vdicaro@fatherhood.org).
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
This post courtesy of Vince DiCaro, NFI Vice President, Development and Communciations.
Great news! NFI has completed the delivery of over 140,000 fatherhood skill-building resources to 47 Air National Guard Airman and Family Readiness Programs and 71 Army New Parent Support Programs across the United States and around the world.
In the Air National Guard, the resources -- which include guides, classroom-based programs, and brochures -- will be used to support and train Air National Guard dads, thereby strengthening and improving the resilience of Air National Guard Families. In the Army, the resources will be used by Army New Parent Support Program Home Visitors to educate and train new and expectant Army dads, resulting in stronger and more resilient Army families.
At a time when thousands of military fathers are returning from long overseas deployments, it is critical that our nation’s military fathers receive the education and inspiration they need to embrace their roles as fathers and to build their relationship and parenting skills.
Tim Red, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, father, and NFI’s Senior Program Support Consultant for the Military, said, “Building resilience in our military families and communities has become a top priority, and there is no better place to start than with building the skills and confidence of our nation’s military dads. Having been there myself, I know firsthand the difference an involved, responsible, and committed father can make in the lives of military children and families.”
Through FatherSOURCE, the Fatherhood Resource Center, NFI has provided a wide variety of skill-building materials to the Air National Guard and Army, including NFI’s flagship 24/7 Dad® curriculum, a classroom-based program designed to help fathers build their communication, fathering, and relationship skills. Other resources include NFI’s Deployed Fathers and Families Guide™, which helps military dads prepare for, endure, and return from deployment. Several of NFI’s fathering skills brochures were also delivered, including “10 Ways to Be a Better Dad” and military-focused brochures such as “10 Ways to Stay Involved with Your Children During Deployment” and “Welcome Home Dad!”, which helps military fathers successfully transition from deployment to every day life with their families.
The Air National Guard will support dads and families with the resources at sites in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The Army will support dads and families with the resources at sites in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Since launching its Deployed Fathers and Families program in 2001, National Fatherhood Initiative has become the nation’s leading provider of fatherhood-specific resources to the U.S. Military. NFI has delivered nearly 650,000 resources to all five branches of the military on bases all over the world, and has been listed on Military OneSource, the Department of Defense’s support service for military families.
For more information on Military Fatherhood Programming, please contact Tim Red at tred@fatherhood.org.
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
This is a guest blog written by NFI Executive Vice President, Chris Brown.
You work with a variety of Dads. And they've got questions or issues that they need help addressing. And sometimes they're issues you or your staff aren't sure how to answer. Or, frankly, it's just not your area of expertise.
That's why National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) is not only committed to providing you with our own research-based, high-quality resources -- we’re also committed to providing you with supplementary resources that we’ve partnered with other organizations to create, including resources that you can integrate with NFI’s programs (such as NFI’s 24/7 Dad®, Doctor Dad®, or InsideOut Dad®.)
From 2006-2011, NFI partnered with the American Humane Society and the Center for Children and the Law at the American Bar Association to establish the National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System (QIC-NRF). Wow! That was a mouthful…but it was a tremendously valuable project that NFI was proud to be a part of.
This 5-year project (funded by the Children’s Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) sought to identify models that child welfare organizations and professionals could use to improve their engagement of non-resident fathers whose children were or had been involved in child welfare systems. And this is where you benefit.
The QIC-NRF produced several excellent resources. One of these, titled “Finding Your Way: Guides for Fathers in Child Protection Cases,” is a collection of 6 FREE guides (each in English and Spanish) for non-resident fathers involved in child protection cases (child welfare cases) that you can download for FREE from NFI’s website. These colorful, easy-to-understand guides are extremely useful for any organization that works with non-resident fathers and especially those who run NFI’s or other fatherhood programs.
The 6 Finding Your Way Guides are:
- Guide 1: Your Rights and Responsibilities - Includes fathers’ rights in child welfare court cases, how to exercise and protect those rights, and fathers’ responsibilities inside and outside the courtroom.
- Guide 2: How to Work with Your Lawyer -Includes how fathers should talk to their lawyers and interact with them, what to bring when meeting with a lawyer, and what to expect from a lawyer.
- Guide 3: Your Role in Court - Includes how fathers should act in court, what to do before, during, and after court, and how to prepare arguments. This guide includes three sub-guides—3.1, 3.2, and 3.3—that cover the court process, who will be in court, and common court terms.
- Guide 4: Your Role Outside Court - Includes case meetings fathers should attend, why they should attend those meetings, and how to prepare for those meetings.
- Guide 5: When You Owe Child Support - Includes why paying child support is important, how a child welfare case relates to child support, and when fathers must pay child support.
- Guide 6: If You Are or Have Been in Prison - Includes fathers’ rights as a prisoner and ex-prisoner, and how fathers can protect their rights while in prison and outside prison.
How should you use them? Well, we're glad you asked.
- We highly recommend that you distribute these guides to the fathers you serve (e.g. via case management or via display in a waiting area).
- If you run a fatherhood program (such as NFI’s 24/7 Dad®, Doctor Dad®, or InsideOut Dad® programs), keep copies on hand to provide to fathers when they ask questions—which they undoubtedly will—about the subject matter covered in the guides.
- You can also provide copies to staff to increase their knowledge about how to help fathers who need guidance on how to navigate child welfare systems. And if your organization is connected with other organizations that serve non-resident fathers, please tell them about this great free resource from NFI.
We hope these guides are helpful to both you and the fathers you serve!
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
The following is a guest post by Shawn O'Keefe, Youth Programs Specialist for Newport News Department of Human Services. If you would like to guest blog for us, email here.
As a Youth Program Specialist, it is my job to provide prevention, education, leadership, and youth development programming and opportunities to young people in the middle and high school age range.
One of the curricula I researched was the Boyz2Dads™ program, which I have been using now for the last three years. I like the Boyz2Dads™ program for many reasons:
- It has a pregnancy prevention component focused on young boys instead of girls
- It is computer based
- It allows for discussion about the roles/responsibilities of fathers, as well as the characteristics that make good fathers
I have had the opportunity to implement the program several different ways and in various venues. I have facilitated the program in a high school, at a Boys and Girls Club, a middle school summer enrichment program, and inside the city’s Juvenile Detention Facility. Through trial and error, I have found that the best practices for the most effective implementation of Boyz2Dads™ is for the group to be limited to no more than 10-15 participants; individual access to a computer; headphones for each participant; and scheduling the program in six 45 minute to one hour sessions once per week.
Interestingly, I have had the most success with the young men in the city’s Juvenile Detention Facility, which was really a big surprise. I thought of any of the young men I was working with that this group would think the program was “whack” or “corny” or just a waste of time. I have found quite the opposite. These young men don’t want to wait for me to come back the following week to complete the next level-they want to complete all six levels that day! They say, “The graphics aren’t as good as the Playstation or XBOX games, but the levels are interesting” and they love the discussion afterwards. That’s right…a group of 10-15 teen boys that I sometimes have a hard time getting to shut up!
As a single father of two sons, it is a joy for me to see these young men I work with start to redefine what it means to be a dad and a man. You hear them say things such as, “When I’m a dad, I’m gonna make sure my kids know I love them,” or, “I used to think it was gay for a man to kiss another man, but if you really love your dad or son, there’s nothing wrong with kissing them,” and, “My kids might not get everything they want, but I’m going to be there for them and spend time with them.”
One of our funding sources was impressed with the work I was doing with the young men and the Boyz2Dads™ program. He had been reading my reports and wanted to know exactly how and what I was doing. After speaking to my Supervisor and her telling him that I have impacted 170 young men who have all shown an increase in the knowledge of the impact fathers have on their children and families and what characteristics make a good father, he asked, “How would you like some more money so you can offer some more fatherhood programs?”
WHAT!??! More money to make more of an impact!? You know we said, "YES"!
Photo credit here.
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
Many organizations who serve families and communities do excellent work toward providing resources to create happy, healthy, and propserous families. But unfortunately, many fail to intentionally include fathers in the work they are doing.
In 2013, do it for the children. Involve Dads in your work!
If you are an organization who is already focusing on fathers - great! We have 5 things to ensure your fatherhood program thrives.
If you're not focusing on fathers, here are 5 ways you can jump-start your efforts, plus some recommended resources:
1. Assess Your Father-Friendliness. When fathers come to your organization, do they only see images of mothers? Are there any male staff members in your organization? Your father involvement efforts won't be successful unless fathers feel comfortable. A simple way to help fathers feel more welcome is to use posters or a Fatherhood Kiosk in your lobby or waiting area.
Not sure how father-friendly your organization is? Take our FREE Father-Friendly Check-Up™ for a customized evaluation and helpful recommendations. Get started by clicking the button at the end of this blog post.
2. Focus Your Efforts. This is one of the most important steps in preparing to serve fathers, and therefore, the longest in this post.
What kind of fathers do I want to engage?
Think about the fathers that may come to your organization, the types of families you serve, or the kind of fathers you're looking to serve. What are these fathers' interest points, and what barriers may they have for father involvement? The answers to these questions will inform what kind of resources you use, and how you structure and market your programs.
• If you want to educate new dads, look for programs with practical child health and safety information, like Doctor Dad®
• For engaging inmates, look at a reentry program, like InsideOut Dad®, designed to address inmates' unique barriers
• Conducting home visits? Try a portable resource - like Dad's/New Dad's Pocket Guides, Tip Cards, or the 24/7 Dad® Interactive CD-ROM
How much time and budget does my staff/organization have to dedicate to fatherhood programming?
Considering this aspect will help you hone-in on the types of resources that will best fit your organization. NFI categorizes fatherhood programming into Low, Medium or High Intensity levels, based on the amount of staff time and budget you have to invest in serving fathers. Choose the level that best fits your commitment in 2013.
3. Partner with Other Organizations. Be creative and look for a variety of non-profit and for-profit partners that will help you increase your reach and provide valuable resources that you may not have on your own. You can use partners to create a referral network - have other organizations who aren't prepared to work with fathers refer them to you. Or, for-profit partners may be able to fund your efforts or help with promotion.
4. Think About Sustainability. Funding is a key part of any father involvement program. Many organizations sustain their efforts through local, state, and federal grants. Click here for a recording of our Financial Sustainability Webinar and get ideas for program sustainability.
5. Start with a Kick-Off Event. Ready to get started? Hold a community-wide event to create exposure and excitement! Whether it is a family fun day, father-child activities, or a basketball tournament, an event will help you expand your reach and create excitement for your upcoming programs and efforts. Consider handing out fatherhood skill building materials like brochures or 24/7 Dad® magnets. Use one of our Fatherhood Kiosks to make free fatherhood resources available to dads you serve!
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
This is a guest blog post by NFI's Erik Vecere, VP of Project Design & Consulting.
Sustainability planning and execution of that plan is the most important investment for any social service agency or non-profit organization looking to effectively engage fathers, mothers, and the community around responsible fatherhood. Planning is not as “sexy” as starting up a new program for dads, but it is the groundwork that makes the sexy programming possible...and sustainable.
All too often I’ve seen the disruption (or elimination) of fatherhood services in communities because the larger agencies where the fatherhood services were offered didn’t weave this work into the fabric of their organizational culture. I’ve seen grant writers miss opportunities to write fatherhood resources into proposals that focus on broader issues, but clearly have a father factor involved. I’ve seen executive staff give up trying to hire male staff prematurely. There have been missed opportunities because staff have not formally mapped community assets or looked seriously at the father-friendliness of the agency’s physical environment.
Conversely, the “best practice agencies” that I’ve come across over the years consistently assess and improve their leadership development, organizational development, program development, and community engagement from the lens of father engagement and convert their assessment to specific tasks that have a clear “who, what, when” attached.
Moreover, quantitative data -- which we gathered running a federally-funded project to build organizational sustainability in the fatherhood field -- reveal that agencies that develop action plans around the abovementioned categories increase overall sustainability in the short term, and that those gains hold in the long term. Ninety-eight percent of those organizations increased their sustainability by the end of the first year of developing these father-friendly action plans. Ninety-three percent maintained or further increased their sustainability after 2 years (Source: 2010, National Responsible Fatherhood Capacity-Building Initiative, Inspiration to Implementation).
In spite of this information, many agencies lack the resources, tools, awareness, and support to take this process as seriously as they should. The end result is that we have few (if any) parenting programs in our communities that are balanced in male and female participation. This translates into fewer men becoming better dads and lower child well-being outcomes.
When agencies are forced to take a hard look at their organizational culture rather than just their services (which tends to be the default for most), it helps them create the Velcro that their programs and services can stick to. But making these kinds of changes are not for the faint of heart and agency leaders need to be properly prepared, equipped, and trained to understand how to disrupt the present in order to change the future.
It is for that reason that National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) is committed to helping organizations attain sustainability for fatherhood work regardless of what the funding landscape looks like. In our five years running the abovementioned federal project, we learned how to measure gains in sustainability and capacity, and how to help organizations maximize those gains. From our free Father Friendly Check Up assessment to our 5 Steps to Fatherhood Programming Success, NFI recognizes that systemic change and better outcomes for fathers and families begins with community leaders and agencies doing a better job of creating a continual and uninterrupted stream of services for fathers.
Here’s to making sustainability sexy… for the sake of our nation’s fatherless children.
Photo credit here.
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
This is a guest blog from NFI Senior Program Support Consultant, Ave Mulhern.
Capacity-building is the way in which organizations build up their staff and organizational capacity to successfully run programs.
When is comes to training and serving fathers in your community, National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) wants your fatherhood program to be the best it can be, and reach as many dads as possible. That's why capacity-building is so important and will help your fatherhood program succeed, thrive, and effectively serve fathers.
To that end, please join us for NFI's Community Mobilization Approach Workshop in Germantown, MD on January 30, 2012 where you will learn how your organization can create lasting change in your community by working to engage all sectors of society to increase the number of children who grow up with involved, responsible fathers.
Hear from Ave Mulhern, NFI's Sr. Program Support Consultant, about NFI's work with numerous organizations in the over the years to successfully mobilize communities around responsible fatherhood.
During this workshop you will learn about:
• How to raise up new fatherhood champions that represent all sectors of your community
• A needs and assets assessment process you can use to jumpstart a community-wide fatherhood initiative
• Other cities, counties, and states that have successfully implemented the Community Mobilization Approach
We look forward to you dedicating your time with us!
Click Here to Learn More and Register for Our Upcoming Capacity Building Workshop>>
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
This is a guest blog written by NFI Senior Program Support Consultant, Ave Mulhern.
Without going into detail, my son, much to his dismay at age 25 is back living at home. He is finishing his degree and looking to start a career. In the last year or so has he started to become serious about his faith, school, the future, and of course, relationships. Why?
Maybe because my husband and I have been married for over 37 years and although, imperfect as we are, we have set the bar high about committed relationships to both of our children. Surrounded by messages from media and seeing friends and extended family living together without marriage or having children out of wedlock, my husband and I commend him on his willingness to do things right and in order.
Because of the work I do for National Fatherhood Initiative my son has been maybe a bit over exposed to this great work we do. Talk of fatherhood seems to make it’s way into conversations about almost everything.
As a Sr. Program Support Consultant for NFI, I connect individuals and organizations to research, resources, and tools that will help them engage and equip men to be involved, responsible and committed fathers to their child(ren). Why? The message is that father’s are irreplaceable in their child’s life. The other message that NFI consistently supports is the importance of the father’s relationship with the child’s mother.
You may say, well, okay, agreed -- but Why the push about marriage?
Did you know the most common reason fathers are not involved with children is because they are not married to the mother of their children? Father absence and un-involvement typically occurs in a divorced or never-married parental situation.
So there's the "Why's" for creating a marriage readiness program for men:
-There is a noticeable gap existing in programs that are designed to prepare couples and individuals for marriage who are not already involved in a romantic relationship and considering marriage.
-Also, no widely used program specifically focuses on the issues that men face when making decisions about marriage. This fact is important to note because men are much more likely than women to instigate a marriage proposal and engagement. Consequently, it is paramount that our society equips men with the tools to start and sustain a long and happy marriage to the mother of their children or future children.
NFI’s Why Knot?™ is a unique program for single men and fathers. A marriage-readiness program for men in a groundbreaking curriculum that prepares men for healthy relationships and equips them to make one of the most important decisions they'll ever make! This program helps men breakdown common misconceptions about relationships and marriage, equips men with important relationship skills, and helps men assess their readiness for marriage. Created for men ages 18-30, it's the perfect compliment to programs that provide relationship skills critical to sustaining healthy marriages.
Why Why Knot?™
We know a child does best in a healthy and stable marriage. So, if that is the “true north,” then we are selling our children (and families) short if we are not discussing marriage as an option and providing couples with skill building tools to attain healthy marriages.
By the way, my son and I are going through the program now!
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
The following is a post from Christopher A. Brown, Executive Vice President of National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI).
As we move into another holiday season, you will undoubtedly purchase gifts for loved ones from well-known companies such as Apple, Toys R Us, Disney, and Microsoft. While traveling to visit family you might stay in a hotel that is part of the Hilton, Marriott, or Choice chain of hotels.
Each of these companies focuses on delivering a specific experience, or promise, to its customers. The commitment to deliver this experience is called a “brand promise.” Disney’s brand promise is “Entertainment with Heart.” Hilton’s is “To ensure every Guest feels cared for, valued, and respected.” The brand promise guides employees’ behavior and is what you, the customer, can and should expect the company and its employees to deliver on a consistent basis. Which is much, MUCH more than a pinky promise.
NFI’s brand promise is “Supporting You. Supporting Fathers. Supporting Families.™” It is embodied in the slogan “Creating a world in which every child has a 24/7 Dad.℠” Our promise guides us in our interactions with customers, and our slogan is the outcome we want to achieve with our customers as partners in that endeavor.
Supporting You. We start with a commitment to supporting you, the organizations and individuals on the front line in the fight to reverse father absence in the lives of children. Because you do the really hard work in this fight, we promise to develop and provide the highest quality resources, training, and technical assistance to arm you in this fight. That’s why we’re the #1 trainer of organizations and fatherhood practitioners having trained nearly 12,000 practitioners from more than 5,500 organizations since 2002.
Supporting Fathers. NFI provides low, medium, and high-intensity resources for use with fathers from all walks of life and regardless of the circumstances in which they father. NFI has distributed more than 6.1 million fatherhood resources since our founding in 1994. One of our most important tactics in supporting fathers is to partner with organizations that engage fathers in every sector of society. Our partners include the national Y (YMCA), community-action agencies, Head Start and Early Head Start, schools, and non-profits of all sizes. We also work with every branch of the military and reach fathers through well-known businesses, such as Disney, Gillette, and Nissan.
Supporting Families. NFI understands that fathers father best when they have supportive families. That’s why we’re committed to developing resources for mothers that focus on improving the relationships they have with the fathers of their children. NFI’s Mom as Gateway™ FatherTopics™ workshop, for example, helps mothers understand the importance of father involvement and how they can reduce unnecessary gatekeeping behavior, thus increasing fathers’ access to their children.
Creating a world in which every child has a 24/7 Dad.℠ NFI exists to increase the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible, committed fathers in their lives—a 24/7 Dad. We know you are no less committed to that outcome.
Please let us know how well we deliver on our brand promise. We’d love to hear from you!
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.