Other
Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) aims to promote preschoolers' school readiness by supporting parents in providing instruction in the home. The program model is designed for parents who lack confidence in their ability to prepare their children for school, including parents with past negative school experiences or limited financial resources. The HIPPY program model offers weekly activities for 30 weeks of the year, alternating between home visits and group meetings (two one-on-one home visits per month and two group meetings per month). HIPPY sites are encouraged…
red dot icon
Journal Article Head Start programs offer a setting to examine support that facilitates father involvement. The Dakota Father Friendly Assessment (DFFA) is designed to evaluate an organization's level of father-friendliness. To establish its psychometric properties, a sample of North and South Dakota early childhood staff (N = 609) completed the DFFA. A number of measures were included as indicators of validity. Factor analysis of the DFFA confirmed the presence of four expected factors and revealed a fifth factor (loadings ranged from .40 to .80). Coefficient alphas for DFFA subscales ranged from .71 to…
red dot icon
Journal Article Mobile technology presents an exciting opportunity for social workers to reach populations that are typically underserved by interventions and services. We present one application of technology that is particularly relevant to social work practice. The mDad (Mobile Device Assisted Dad) app was developed to augment existing social work practices by providing a father-friendly tool to help new fathers learn about and engage with their infants and toddlers. We discuss the process of developing the app content and conducting usability testing of the mDad app. We conclude with a discussion of the…
Other
This slide presentation begins by explaining key components of child well-being, including: physical health, development, and safety; psychological and emotional development; social development and behavior; and cognitive development and educational achievement. Information is then provided on inputs that impact child well-being outcomes and reasons social workers need to focus on the positive inputs. Reasons include: the Declaration of Independence that focuses on the right of men to the pursuit of happiness, good science, fully describes children and youth, can be measured well, and to…
red dot icon
Journal Article This article is based on an in-depth qualitative study of efforts by an Early Head Start program to include fathers in program activities with the aim of supporting and strengthening their involvement in their children's lives. Since this program employs a home-visiting model of service delivery, our focus is on the work and experiences of home-visiting staff. Our key findings concern the evolutionary development of program thinking and practice regarding fathers and father involvement; barriers or challenges to father involvement; and successful strategies for engaging fathers on both a…
Other
This tool will help you assess the degree to which your Head Start operations encourage father involvement in the activities and programs offered by your Head Start.
