Transcript What About the Dads?

What has been effective to engage nonresident fathers:
 Seek first to understand
 Recognize and acknowledge his
previous experience with support
systems
 Help him understand his role in the life
of his child and how important it is.
 Acknowledge the power in your
position along with empowering the
father
“That’s the main issue I see with the father’s I work with. Most of them had
little or no father in their life and they learned that their vision of a father is
not the reality of how to be a father and they don’t know how to make the
transition. It’s difficult to get these guys to adapt or use different tools they
have never used. I tell the fathers I work with I personally try to do two things
as a father myself.
1. The things my father did that were positive and I look back and enjoyed as a
kid I continue to do with my kids.
2. The things my father did that bothered me and still sticks with me today, I
don’t do them. I work hard to replace them by doing the things with my kids I
wished I would have done with my father. (The best thing about this is I give
my kids something money can’t buy, Great memories which in time replaces
the negative ones with my dad healing us all!)”
-Jimmy Tucker, Children’s Services Social Worker
 Ask the father, “How would you like your
child to remember you 10 to 15 years from
now?”
 Remind the father that he is a role model for
his child (he may not have had that)
…breaking the chain of fatherlessness
Common Challenges to Non-Resident Father
Engagement
 Expressions of anger
 Co-parenting and parental conflict
with the mother
 Multiple issues: unemployment,
housing, court involvement,
substance abuse, mental health,
domestic violence
Important things to consider in moving
forward:
 How do we help a father understand that he is important to
the well being of his child?
 What services do fathers need to address barriers?
 What strategies do we use to develop a working relationship
with a father?
 Understanding the need for a father to share his past
experience with support systems.
 Understanding male anger.
 Explaining the process and expectation for a father and what
his role is.
 How do we empower fathers by our own actions?
The more complex an issue, the more time and
information may be needed to move to the next stage.
There are many ways for your organization to engage
fathers in programming.
Engaging fathers begins with a holistic approach to
becoming father-friendly. Father inclusion should be a
priority for the entire organization’s agenda and be
stressed in leadership development, program
development and community engagement.
Children’s Administration Program Improvement Plan
for Father Engagement
 State wide father engagement coordination
 Regional father engagement program manager
 Office father liaisons for advocacy and consultation
 Mandatory training on father engagement for all staff
 Informational guides for fathers for the child welfare
system and juvenile court process
 Father engagement and parent education groups
facilitated by a veteran father of this system
 Community partner training and collaboration
“The primary task of every civilization is to teach
the young men to be fathers.”
-Margaret Mead
Jonah Idczak
[email protected]
(206) 639-6212
Father Engagement Specialist, Children’s Administration
Shayne Rochester
[email protected]
(425) 622-6928
Snohomish County Parent Advocacy Committee Member
Fatherhood Engagement Facilitator
‘Life During CPS’ Facilitator
‘Parent for Parent’ Parent Mentor
Perinatal Treatment Services Family Case Manager
Websites Related to Engaging Fathers
What About the Dads? A website with resources for fathers
http://adai.washington.edu/familypartnership/
‘Including Fathers’ Video
http://uwtv.org/watch/16219667/
National Fatherhood Initiative
www.fatherhood.org
National Responsible Fathers Clearinghouse
www.fatherhood.gov
US DHHS Administration for Children & Families Fatherhood Resources
http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/promoting/fatherhood.cfm
Group Discussions
In your agency…
What are the barriers to working with Fathers? For
example, personal barriers? Institutional barriers?
Other?
What are action steps you can take within your agency
to overcome these barriers— in the next
month? Over the next year? Over the next 5 years?