Men do not often come for counseling because they are having difficulties with being a father, but many of the presenting problems and reasons for seeking help can be related to the roles and responsibilities of fathering. The dramatic shift in societal expectations of being a father can often leave men confused as they navigate conflicting views, demands, and responsibilities.Counseling Fathers is designed to bridge the gap between fathers and professional helpers. This book provides the mental health practitioners with a guide for working with fathers in therapy, whether the issues of…
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Child welfare and related professionals often struggle to find parent education programs and modalities that can help at-risk parents make long-lasting changes in their parenting practices. This article describes The Video Home Training (VHT) and Video Interaction Guidance (VIG), two evidence-based, strengths-based programs that rely on video feedback that have shown promising results for parents and others.
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The US Congress has passed TANF Reauthorization with $75 million allocated for responsible fatherhood and $75 million for healthy marriage programming for fiscal year 2011. The total amount for responsible fatherhood programming was increased from $50 million to $75 million, while the total amount for healthy marriage programming was reduced from $100 million to $75 million.
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The article presents a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama delivered at a Father's Day event at the Town Hall Education Arts & Recreation Campus (THEARC) in Washington, D.C. on June 21, 2010, in which he discussed the role of fathers in the lives of their children, the importance of the presence of a father to his children and the responsible fatherhood campaign called Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative.
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The inaugural White House Community Roundtable and Town Hall Meeting on Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families was held in Chicago, IL, on August 5, 2009. The event was the first in a series of locally focused meetings designed to highlight the importance of fatherhood in communities across the nation. It provided a forum for responsible fatherhood program representatives, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers at the Federal, State, and local levels to discuss the successes and challenges faced by fathers and responsible fatherhood programs. (Author abstract)
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This updated edition explains what program evaluation is, why evaluation is important, how to conduct an evaluation and understand the results, how to report evaluation findings, and how to use evaluation results to improve programs that benefit children and families. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article The article discusses the answers on questions posed regarding public policy toward fathers with low income in the child support program. It states that the federal government must aim for additional funding to programs designed for the employment of low-income fathers in the child support programs that would increase employment and decrease poverty among low-earning fathers and their children. It notes that making programs mandatory and voluntary will be beneficial to low-earning fathers in the child support program. It mentions that said programs may include services like case management,…
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Journal Article In this analysis, we explore how low-income African American fathers build understandings of successful manhood in the context of community-based responsible fatherhood programs. Drawing on life history interviews with 75 men in Illinois and Indiana, we explore men's attempts to fulfill normative expectations of fatherhood while living in communities with limited resources. We examine the efforts of community-based fatherhood programs to shape alternative African American masculinities through facilitation of personal turning points and "breaks with the past," use of social support and…
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Journal Article A comprehensive five-year review of five social work journals and one family-focused interdisciplinary journal was conducted to examine the prevalence of recent research on fathers. Despite an increase in father-focused research over the past two decades, there continues to be a significant lack of research examining fathers relative to mothers, as well as research that includes fathers as participants. Ethical issues regarding the inclusion of fathers in social work research and practice are discussed. (Author abstract)
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This Resource Guide was written to support service providers in their work with parents, caregivers, and their children to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect. The guide includes information about protective factors that help reduce the risk of child maltreatment, strategies for changing how communities support families, and evidence-informed practices. It also offers suggestions for enhancing protective factors in families, tools to build awareness and develop community partnerships, information about child abuse and neglect, a directory of national organizations that…