Policy & Practice April 2015

partnering for impact

By Erik Vecere

Improving Father Engagement in Texas Home Visiting Programs

R esearch compiled in Father Facts 6 by the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI)

demonstrates that father absence is a significant root cause of the social problems affecting millions of children and families; it also devastates com- munities (e.g., school failure, poverty, crime, drug use, pregnancy for unwed mothers, and emotional and behav- ioral problems). Available evidence also indicates that fathers play a significant role in shaping the degree to which early home visiting services benefit families. The American Journal of Public Health reported that mothers who experi- ence less involvement from significant others, such as the fathers of their children, report dropping out of home visitation services sooner, and Child Abuse & Neglect, the International Journal, found that mothers partici- pate in significantly fewer home visits when the father is not involved. The Challenge The challenge that home visiting programs have involving fathers is that often they jump right into pro- viding programs and services for fathers before addressing barriers within the organization or commu- nity that, in the first place, prevent fathers from accessing and effectively using programs and services. In some cases, home visiting programs don’t address these barriers because they might not realize they exist. In other cases, they’re simply more comfortable launching a direct-service effort than undertaking the foundational work that creates a supportive environment. Unfortunately, this “leap before you look” approach can lead to low father engagement, poor program and service

training, participants completed a FFCU assessment, which is the tool upon which the father-readiness process is built. The FFCU assessment helped sites analyze their locations, physical environments, organizational philosophies, staff attitudes to deter- mine the degree to which they were ready to serve the needs of fathers. After receiving training, the special- ists were equipped to return to their communities to deliver the FFCU assessment to other organizations in need, such as Early Head Start, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, Nurse Family Partnership, and Parents as Teachers sites. NFI used the data gathered by the FFCU assessments to help each site create an action plan to become more father-friendly and enhance its services to fathers. NFI also equipped each community with a “Father-Readiness Toolkit.” The toolkit included resources to help sites deliver additional FFCU This article is a part of our ongoing series “Partnering For Impact.”Working with our partners at the National Human Services Assembly (NHSA), this section will highlight innovative public-private partnership around the country.

outcomes, and an unsustainable effort to effectively involve fathers. This “father-readiness” issue at the agency level is the reason that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) reached out to NFI. “Father-readiness” refers to a process implemented by an organiza- tion to create an environment (e.g., organizational or community culture) that increases father engagement. As a result, NFI and HHSC (with funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting grant) partnered to help home visiting programs in seven Texas counties increase their father-readiness and, ultimately, engage more fathers in the home visiting process. The Project To kick off the project, NFI con- ducted six Father Friendly Check-Up™ (FFCU) training sessions for state home visiting program model staff; Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program community leads; home visiting program site coordinators/supervisors; and local fatherhood specialists in Amarillo, Dallas, Longview, McAllen, Odessa, and Corpus Christi. As part of the

Photograph via Shutterstock

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