Since 1997, child welfare services have been faced with new demands to engage fathers or develop father-inclusive services. This book emerges from work by the author as a researcher and educator over many years on the issues posed by this agenda for child welfare practitioners in a variety of contexts.In locating fathers, fathering and fatherhood within a historical and social landscape, the book addresses issues seldom taken up in practice settings. It explores diversity and complexity in fathering in different disciplines such as psychoanalysis, sociology and psychology and analyses…
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Journal Article Findings from in-depth interviews with 24 non-resident fathers are shared and indicate being a non-resident father was emotionally and financially devastating. Fathers experienced feelings of extortion, loss of control, and helplessness, and had little knowledge of how the judicial and child support enforcement systems work. Recommendations for child welfare workers are discussed. 8 references.
Barriers to engaging fathers in child welfare practice are explored, as well as the dangers of adopting a practice model that uncritically embraces fathers. Perspectives from fathers are shared and practices are proposed that align with the following principles: acknowledge their existence, understand there are different ways to be a father, violence does not necessarily eliminate men from being involved as fathers, and understand the context. Discussion questions are included. 49 references.
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Journal Article This article reconsiders the development of fathers' rights politics within the legal arena in recent years, seeking to trace a way through the often highly polarised debates in this area. The paper argues that studies of fatherhood and law reform have much to gain from incorporating a more complex and multi-layered account of the interconnected nature of the personal lives of women, children and men. In the context of significant shifts in the messages law sends about the 'good father', as well as within parenting cultures, the paper tracks changes within fathers' rights activism to shifting…
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Journal Article We investigated children and families who were participating in a mentoring program targeting children with incarcerated parents. Using multiple methods and informants, we explored the development of the mentoring relationship, challenges and benefits of mentoring children with incarcerated parents, and match termination in 57 mentor-child dyads. More than one-third of matches terminated during the first 6 months of participation. For those matches that continued to meet, however, children who saw their mentors more frequently exhibited fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms. In…
Designed to assist advocates for nonresident fathers in child welfare cases, this checklist provides tips for ensuring quality out-of-court advocacy for nonresident fathers. Strategies for advocates are explained and include: develop a good working attorney-client relationship with a father client, establish an open line of communication with the caseworker, and participate and prepare for child welfare staffing.
Designed to assist advocates for nonresident fathers in child welfare cases, this checklist explores ethical issues that should be considered when representing nonresident fathers. Advocates are urged to remember the appointment creates the attorney-client relationship, to competently represent a father client, to assess their options if contact with the client is lost, and to avoid representing multiple fathers or both parents in one case.
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Journal Article Fathers exist in the lives of women and children involved with child welfare authorities, and yet, they are rarely seen by child welfare. This invisibility exists whether or not fathers are deemed as risks or as assets to their families. Using an analysis of fundamental child welfare policies and practices and relevant literature, the paper examines how 'ghost' fathers are manufactured, and how this phenomenon affects families and professionals in child welfare. An analysis of gender, class, race and culture of child welfare discourses shows how these fathers are seen as deviant, dangerous,…
