The DadTalk blog features insights from dads and Responsible Fatherhood practitioners from around the country. Its goal is to start conversations about important issues surrounding fatherhood and programs for fathers today.
Family strengthening is a topic that has always been a part of the Head Start vision, and the past two decades have seen a growing recognition of how important Dads are to this process. For example, take the 2017 Father/Male Engagement…
Fatherhood Research and Practice Network (FRPN) recently reviewed 21 studies of fatherhood programs to identify program policies associated with high rates of attendance, and how program outcomes differed for fathers with varying rates of attendance. We found that while attendance is a problem for most fatherhood programs, with fathers attending half or fewer sessions, the following program formats appear to help:
Programs closely connected with a court where judges “urge” fathers to attend. Intensive programs that engage fathers on a daily, full-time basis. Programs that offer…In the 2005 movie Coach Carter, Samuel L. Jackson plays a high school basketball coach challenged with developing his team into successful students, competitors, and citizens. He does this by holding them accountable to high standards: schoolwork, proper behavior, and a strong level of play. Most importantly, though, he holds them accountable to each other.
Perhaps the most moving scene in the movie occurs at a practice, where one player has failed to complete his punishment of running laps and doing pushups. Coach Carter informs him that he can no longer play on the team because…
On July 28, 2014, the Office of Family Assistance and the Healthy Marriage & Responsible Fatherhood Technical Assistance team unveiled their Tips for Fatherhood Group Facilitators: A Video Resource Guide. The guide is available for free online.
This video resource guide for fatherhood practitioners presents some general tips for group facilitators and includes a number of short video clips to illustrate some of the key points. Discussion questions are…
Ed. Note: This highlight is part of a series entitled Highlights from the Field: Office of Family Assistance Programs at Work for American Families. Read the original posting here.
The Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Technical Assistance Team, in coordination with OFA, produced a series of videos containing participant interviews and scenes from facilitator-led sessions chronicling the positive changes associated with healthy…Understand that if you are on time, you are late!! You must be at least 30 minutes early in order to set the tone for your group. Be ready to welcome your participants as they arrive. Take the opportunity to observe the body language of the group before the session begins. Remember that body language tells you about the participant before the first words are spoken! Being a good group facilitator means more than simply knowing your subject matter. Remember these are people’s lives that you have been entrusted to serve with the opportunity to influence their lives towards positive…