Developing a model of reflective practice for improving fathering programs.

The rapid development of fathering programs has been accompanied by renewed efforts to define good fathering. Programs to promote good fathering have emerged in complex social environments with limited evaluation of effective practice. This paper will address two major issues that fathering programs face in the 1990s. The first issue is the need for a guiding image of good fathering that can be applied to the diverse set of fathering programs that currently exist. The second issue is the identification of effective practice that moves beyond specific case studies to a more general approach to fathering programs that will be useful in guiding practitioners towards good practice. NCOFF's Core Learnings (1995) and Roundtables began to move the field in this direction by outlining important principles and beginning dialogues between practitioners and researchers. This paper presents a framework for reflective practice for fathering programs and outlines an agenda for next steps for researchers and practitioners to take to improve practice in supporting good fathering. (Author abstract)