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This brief lists resources for engaging fathers in the healthy development of their children. Ten resources are listed and include resources on lessons learned from the Early Head Start Fatherhood Demonstration Projects, the National Fatherhood Clearinghouse, Head Start approaches to strengthening families, and the Fatherhood First program. Descriptions include links for additional information.
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This article discusses reasons for the lack of father involvement in child rearing, the benefits of father involvement for children's well-being, and the benefits of father engagement that are specific to child protective services and foster care. Strategies for engaging fathers are discussed in the areas of agency commitment, locating and recruiting fathers, the initial contact, and on-going contact. Characteristics of successful father engagement programs are also noted.
This fact sheet lists inappropriate and appropriate responses to children who are behaving badly. Caregivers are urged to provide children with choices, validate the feelings of the child while stating the inappropriate nature of the behavior, communicate how the behavior is making the caregiver feel, and reaffirm their commitment to the child even when the child is making bad choices.
This brief offers practical tools to agency attorneys on their role in better engaging fathers in child welfare court cases. It includes guidance on: Identifying and locating fathers; Resolving paternity issues; Assessing whether the father can be a placement or other support to the child; Establishing agency policies that promote father engagement.
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Designed for judges, this bench card contains steps that judicial officers can take to help fathers participate in the child protection court process and case planning. (Author abstract modified)
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Designed for judges, this bench card contains ways in which judicial officers can help better engage fathers by understanding how men seek help and learn differently from women. They can also encourage the child welfare agency to work with fathers as often as mothers, offer services geared toward men's learning styles, and work as hard to find and engage fathers as mothers. (Author abstract modified)
Other, Fact Sheet
Identifying and locating fathers early helps children establish or maintain important connections with their fathers and paternal relatives. It also reduces delays in permanency, if the goal is adoption. Establishing paternity quickly after a putative father is located is critical to ensuring the case moves quickly and the father can assert and protect his constitutional rights to the care and custody of his child. Designed for judges, this bench card contains ways in which judicial officers can assist in this process. (Author abstract modified)
Federal law sets timelines for states' decisions about placing foster care children in permanent homes, and, in some cases, for filing to terminate parental rights. Some policymakers have questioned the reasonableness of these timelines for children of incarcerated parents and expressed interest in how states work with these families. GAO was asked to examine: (1) the number of foster care children with incarcerated parents, (2) strategies used by child welfare and corrections agencies in selected states that may support contact or reunification, and (3) how the Department of Health and Human…
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This is a partial listing of curricula that have been used as part of fatherhood programs in the United States. The compendium was compiled for the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) in August 2011 under a contract with the United States Department of Health and Human Services/Administration for Children and Families/Office of Family Assistance. The compendium is for information purposes only; none of the listed curricula are endorsed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. More information on availability of curricula and facilitator training can be obtained…
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Studies have shown that increased father engagement in children's lives results in better outcomes for children and families. This series of short guides provide important tips for non-custodial fathers involved in child protection cases, focusing on issues such as the father's legal rights, child support and courtroom etiquette. They include information written specifically for fathers on how they can be active participants in their children's case and successfully navigate the protection system.
