This is a guest blog post from Christopher Brown, Executive Vice President, National Fatherhood Initiative.
One of the primary challenges faced by non-custodial fathers is how to effectively navigate the child support system. Research shows that when these fathers consistently pay their child support that their involvement in the lives of their children increases.
So how can you help them?
Helping fathers to effectively navigate the child support system is, consequently, a challenge for organizations that serve these fathers. A recent report from Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), Navigating the Child Support System: Lessons from the Fathers at Work Initiative summarizes this challenge within the context of workforce development and provides guidance that can help.
The report “aims to help meet this challenge by providing information, resources and tools to use at the intersection of workforce development and child support enforcement. The guide is based on lessons from the Fathers at Work initiative, a three-year, six-site demonstration funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, which was designed to help young, noncustodial fathers achieve increased employment and earnings, involvement in their children's lives, and more consistent financial support of their children.” Moreover, it “describes child support enforcement regulations, policies and actions that can affect fathers' willingness to seek formal employment and participate in the system, and provides examples of four services that organizations might offer to benefit fathers and their families.”
While this report can prove to be helpful for organizations working with fathers, National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) offers a new tool that organizations can use now to help meet this challenge.
Available through FatherSOURCE™.org, the new FatherTopics™ Collection for Non-Custodial Dads contains five workshop sessions that organizations can use as stand-alone workshops or to complement their fatherhood programs (e.g. 24/7 Dad®) to address selected topics that are very important and helpful for non-custodial fathers.
Most importantly, The Collection includes a session that helps fathers to better understand the importance of providing child support. They learn what this type of support means for their children and for their self-identification as a father. And beyond that, it emphasizes the value of all types of support given by a father (e.g. financial, emotional, and physical). As part of the Child Support Session content, fathers meet a local child support expert/representative and learn about child support enforcement and how to navigate the child support system.
Other sessions in the collection focus on several additional critical challenges faced by these fathers:
- Access and visitation
- Workforce readiness
- Money management
- Fathers’ rights and responsibilities.
In fact, the collection of workshops for fathers was field tested for one year by practitioners in New York City as part of the city’s fatherhood initiative; the feedback from these practitioners and the fathers who participated in the sessions was overwhelmingly positive.
FatherTopics™ Collection for Non-Custodial Dads offers a total of five 2-hour sessions your organization can run for non-custodial fathers to help them succeed as involved fathers. Click the button below to learn more about how to implement these sessions with non-custodial fathers you serve.
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
Posted by
Kerry Cole on Thu, Apr 18, 2013 @ 10:00 AM
NFI is proud to support the upcoming film, Home Run, opening Tomorrow, April 19.
Baseball all-star Cory Brand knows what it takes to win in the big leagues. 
But off the field, with memories of his past haunting him, his life is spiraling out of control. Hoping to save her client’s career and reputation after a DUI and a team suspension, Cory’s agent sends him back to the small town where he grew up.
Forced to coach the local youth baseball team and spend eight weeks in the only recovery program in town, Cory can’t wait to return to his old life as quickly as possible. As his young players help him experience the joy of the game, Cory discovers his need to find freedom from his past and hope for his future…and win back the love he left behind. With this unexpected second chance, Cory finds himself on a powerful journey of transformation and redemption.
Watch the Official Trailer!
At NFI, we're committed to sharing the latest in films that matter to you and the work you are doing to help dads be the best fathers they can be! This film gives your organization an opportunity to take a group of fathers to the theater to see the film as well as an opportunity to encourage the fathers you reach to see the film to receive inspiration around their roles.
Home Run releases Friday, April 19. Get more information on our Home Run page!
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
Posted by
Kerry Cole on Tue, Mar 19, 2013 @ 01:36 PM
This is a blog post by NFI's Executive Vice President, Christopher Brown. If you would like to guest blog for us please email us.
There’s an old saying about starting on a path to achieving an objective: just put one foot in front of the other. Sage advice to be sure, but it doesn’t tell you much about the direction in which you should head. For all you know, it could lead you to walk off the edge of a cliff. If you want to start or grow a fatherhood program, it’s vital that you know what to do first so that you head in the right direction.
1. Conduct a Needs and Assets Assessment of Your Community. You need to understand the “fatherhood landscape” in your community—the rate of father absence, the gaps in services for fathers, the programs for fathers (and the kinds of fathers they serve), etc.—before you can select a group of fathers to serve or who could also benefit from the program you already offer.
2. Identify and Learn About the Kind(s) of Father(s) You Want to Serve or Should Expand to Serve. Programs for specific populations of fathers are often more effective than programs for all fathers. Your organization alone can’t possibly address all the needs of all fathers. Educate yourself and your colleagues about the unique needs of specific populations of fathers in your community who can benefit the most from your program.
3. Create or Select a Program that Matches Fathers’ Needs and Wants. After you know who you will serve (or expand to serve), create or select a program and provide complementary services and resources that will meet fathers’ needs and wants. NFI has evidence-based and research-based and proven curricula, programs, and workshops to reach all kinds of fathers. There is no reason for you to “reinvent the wheel.” To get a current list of curricula and more detailed information about our resources, visit our website at www.fathersource.org or call our national office.
4. Market and Promote Your Program. Marketing a program or service is the greatest challenge of all. It not only involves recruitment, it involves retention and creating a positive image of your program or service in the community to generate referrals. (To learn how to create an effective marketing effort, contact NFI to bring the “Social Marketing for Fatherhood Programs™” workshop to your organization.)
5. Evaluate Your Program. Just because you follow the first 4 steps doesn’t mean that you won’t veer off course. An evaluation is like a GPS—it tells you whether you’re headed in the right direction as you implement your program and helps you to correct your course if necessary. Moreover, evaluations are critically important for program credibility, accountability, improvement, sharing of best practices, and to prove to funders that their dollars were well spent. You don’t need a complicated design to effectively evaluate your program. To help organizations with this step, NFI includes evaluation tools with many of its fatherhood programs.
Don’t waste time. Go ahead and put one foot in front of the other—just make sure to know in which direction you should take that first step. For more information on implementing these 5 steps, consider purchasing our how-to guide on starting a fatherhood program called “A Guide to Strengthening Fatherhood In Your Community: Moving From Inspiration to Implementation.” Download a sample below.
For direct assistance from NFI on how to implement a comprehensive model that includes these and other steps, contact us at programsupport@fatherhood.org to bring “The 7 Bright Spots to Designing Your Fatherhood Program™” workshop to your organization.
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.
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 from NFI Vice President of Project Design and Consulting, Erik Vecere.
One of the biggest challenges in creating change in any organization is getting the right people onboard at the right time. Helping your organization or community develop a passion for reaching fathers is no different.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell provides a great way to understand who you need onboard in order for responsible fatherhood to spread like wildfire. He describes three categories of people: connectors, mavens, and salesmen.
Connectors are people who know a lot of people.
Mavens accumulate knowledge and to whom people go if they have questions.
Salesman are people that can sell absolutely anything.
So the next time you are trying to put together either an internal team or need to assemble a group of community leaders to address fatherhood issues in your community, make sure you have an equal representation of these three categories of people. You will increase your probability of having a much greater impact and moving closer to a tipping point for responsible fatherhood!
Photo credit: http://ruthcatchen.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/change/
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
This is a guest blog from NFI Program Support Consultant Jack Kammer, MSW. In 2012 Jack was named Outstanding Recent Graduate at the University of Maryland School of Social Work.
A powerful idea in domestic violence circles is that a man, but not a woman, who has been abusive is disqualified as a loving parent. The mere allegation, to say nothing of the actual abuse (no matter how minor,) can prevent a father from having a role in his children’s lives. But there is reason to believe that idea may be fading.
On August 22, 2012, National Public Radio carried a report about efforts in New Haven, Connecticut to engage fathers in the lives of Head Start children. Predictably, the specter of male abusiveness came up. But this time NPR quoted Fernando Mederos, Ed.D., Director of Fatherhood Engagement in the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. He said, “What we owe [abused] women is to say to them, ‘What are your concerns about him and is there any way of having him involved with your kids in a safe way, even in a helpful way?’”
NFI understands that domestic violence is an important topic that deserves serious attention. But we sometimes get a bit weary of having domestic violence be the first thing that comes to people’s minds when we mention fathers in families. NFI works to make sure that men have the skills, confidence and support they need to be strong, confident, loving fathers, and we wish to highlight the sexism that paints fathers far too broadly and far too indelibly with the family violence brush.
The scientific evidence about domestic violence makes quite clear that it is a two-way street between women and men. We can argue whether the balance is 50-50, 60-40 or 35-65, but women as well as men can feel the unhealthy impulse toward power and control, the factors that contribute to domestic violence. And the evidence also calls into serious question the ready notion that when women are physically violent towards men it is only in self-defense; in fact, significant science suggests that women initiate more domestic violence than men do. (The annotated bibliography maintained by Martin Fiebert at the University of California, Long Beach, is a good place to start your own investigation of the science around domestic violence.)
Now, having said that, NFI readily acknowledges that when domestic violence involves serious injury, women are somewhere between three and seven times more likely than men to be the victims. And having said that, it is important to point out that most domestic violence – especially under the very broad and vague definitions propounded by some DV activists – does not involve serious injury. Furthermore, most men are not involved in domestic violence at all.
So, back to the initial question: Can a man who has been abusive be a loving parent? NFI is firmly committed to the idea that for most fathers, the answer can be a resounding yes, to the benefit of children, mothers, fathers, your agency and entire communities alike. NFI products such as our 24/7 Dad and InsideOut Dad curricula and our Understanding Domestic Violence FatherTopics Workshop all help to provide fathers with the skills they need to understand and be understood by their partners through healthy, compassionate, nonviolent communication.
What do you think?
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
This is a guest blog from NFI Vice President of Project Design and Consulting, Erik Vecere
Are you looking to help the fathers you work with be more involved in their children's lives? Michael Lamb, who has conducted research on father involvement for many years, identified four factors that influence the level of a father's involvement. They are: social supports, skills and self-confidence, institutional/cultural factors, and motivation.
Your organization can have a direct impact on the first three factors by using father-specific curricula, such as our 24/7 Dad™ program, to help dads build strong peer mentoring supports, improve their fathering skills, and give them the confidence in their ability to be a good dad. You can improve the institutional/cultural factors for dads by becoming a father-friendly organization in your community. A great way to do that is to assess your father-friendliness by using the Father-Friendly Check-Up™.
By addressing these first three factors in an intentional way, your organization will ultimately have a direct impact on each father's motivation to be an involved, responsible, and committed dad.
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.
You may be wondering why you're here. Frankly, you may be wondering why we're here! Another blog from National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI)? I thought NFI already had a blog?
Well, we do! But yo
u see, NFI's current Father Factor Blog discusses the father factor related to pop culture, news of the day, NFI happenings and campaigns, as well as other father-related stories and topics.
Our new organization-focused blog, aptly named FatherTopics™, will address the topics and Technical Assistance (TA) that organizations and individuals doing fatherhood work need. We grabbed the name from our FatherTopics™ Workshops which some of you may be familiar with. FatherTopics™ Workshops are modules that you can add to your current fatherhood programming, or resources you can use as stand alone workshops to train dads on a variety of specific topics - such as Communication, Domestic Violence, Cultural Diversity, and Spirituality.
In a similar manner, this blog will serve as a location for the information and topics that matter to you - organizations and individuals working in the fatherhood field or other community organizations working with fathers. We hope to provide you with perspectives, best practices, and advice - so you are as equipped as possible to create sustainable fatherhood programs that meet the needs of your fathers and families.
This will also be a place for community, comments, and sharing of insight from other facilitators having success in the fatherhood field. It's the place where those of us doing fatherhood work come together to be even better - and more impactful - than we already are, to ensure every child grows up with a 24/7 Dad™.
So on the note of community and sharing, let me tell you who I am and why I'm here.
My name is Melissa Steward, and I'm NFI's VP of Marketing and Program Support. I oversee NFI's Resource Center FatherSOURCE, Program Support Team, and our Graphics Department. I am also part of NFI's Product Development Team and Communications Team. Basically, I'm blessed to touch many parts of NFI in an effort to bring you - the organizations in the field using our resources and training fathers - the information, TA, and guidance you need to do your work even better. There's no greater feeling than coming to work every day knowing you are making a difference in the lives of children by helping equip those in the fatherhood field, to help dads be better dads. And although I don't get to see the results of my work first hand, I'm glad to be here supporting you.
So, sit back. Stay awhile. And join us on this adventure in blogging - the FatherTopics™ way. I'm sure you will be glad you did.
Please introcuce yourself in the comment section below, and tell us what FatherTopics™ you want to hear about on this blog!
For questions about NFI's products or programming, please email programsupport@fatherhood.org.