Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare Engaging fathers was selected as the topic for this NRCPFC teleconference because, according to the CFSR, across the nation, child welfare agencies still struggle with locating fathers and engaging and involving them in their children’s lives and in the case planning process. Fathers play unique and important roles in their children’s lives; therefore, maintaining contact and strengthening the father-child bond should be a priority. The objectives of this session were: To introduce ways to use the “voice of fathers” within the child welfare system to understand their experiences, needs, and desire to be part of their children’s lives; To provide tools to assess the child welfare agency’s readiness to engage non-custodial fathers in participating in team meetings, case planning, accessing services, and reunification; To provide new tools for assessing worker bias regarding working with non-custodial fathers. The audio recording of the teleconference, PowerPoint Presentation, handouts, and additional resources are available online. (July 2011)
Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare Web Conference On February 25, 2011, The Public Child Welfare Training Academy (PCWTA), a project of the Academy for Professional Excellence and San Diego State University, presented a 90-minute web conference on Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare. The web conference featured Mr. Randy A. Jenkins, MSW, a national expert on Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare and Consultant to the NRCPFC, and Father Panelists Jeffrey Mays and Gerald Howard. The training focused on the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections (NRCPFC) values and goals of father engagement; father engagement and assessment; stories of non-custodial fathers in the child welfare system; discussion of the results of a group study of social workers who have engaged fathers; and discussion of focus group results of fathers who have been engaged by social workers. (2011)
Bringing Back the Dads: Father Engagement Father involvement is critical to providing positive outcomes of safety, permanency, and well being for their children in the child welfare system. This NRCPFC teleconference, recorded on March 10, 2010, informs best practices related to the engagement of fathers and the paternal family in the public child welfare system. Presenters shared research and practice experiences, and discussed non-resident fathers and the legal system; fathers also shared their personal experiences with the child welfare system. You can listen to the audio of the teleconference, and access handouts including the agenda and presenters’ contact information, a bibliography, a PowerPoint presentation, and many other relevant materials. (March 2010)
*Many of these resources were developed previously by the
National Resource Center for
Permanency and Family Connections (NRCPFC).
Informational & Practice Publications, Resources, & Tools
A Guide for Father Involvement in Systems of Care Published by the Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health, this guide focuses on the importance of fathers’ involvement in systems of care. It provides information about the importance of fathers in the lives of their children, identifies potential consequences if fathers are not involved, and offers systems and families strategies for helping fathers become more involved. The guide is divided into twelve sections: (1) Where Are the Dads?; (2) How Does a Father’s Presence or Absence Affect His Children?; (3) Why is Inclusion of Fathers Important in Systems of Care?; (4) Systems of Care Should Infuse Fathers’ Involvement in All Core Dimensions; (5) Fatherhood and Culture; (6) Young Fathers; (7) Grandfathers; (8) Fathers in Families with Child Welfare Involvement; (9) Dads Involved with Substance Abuse; (10) Incarcerated Dads; (11) Dads Who Are Gay and Fathers of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT) Children; and (12) Resources. (April 2013)
IFPS Guide to Father Involvement This resource from the National Family Preservation Network provides a framework and best practice for Intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS) therapists to engage and involve fathers in their children's lives. While designed primarily for the brief, intensive services of IFPS, NFPN believes that the content is applicable to all short-term services. It may be applicable to longer-term services as well, because studies show that involving fathers generally occurs early in the provision of services or not at all. The IFPS Guide includes: current state of father involvement based on the most recent findings and surveys; examining the therapist's perspective; explaining to mothers the benefits of father involvement; assessing the father's level of involvement; addressing the two main issues that underlie a father's reluctance to become involved; a six-week work plan for father involvement; and, an interview with a mom. This resource can assist and encourage your agency staff to do more to involve fathers in their children's lives. Please note that the IFPS Guide does not replace training on father involvement. (2012)
Ten Ways to Be a Better Dad (Available in English and Spanish) This tip sheet is from the Strengthening Families and Communities: 2011 Resource Guide, produced annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention. It lists 10 concrete ways that fathers can enhance their involvement in their children’s lives. (2011)
Finding Your Way: Guides for Fathers in Child Protection Cases This series of guides from American Bar Association and American Humane Association can help fathers prepare for court hearings or meetings. It provides general information, not legal advice. Case-specific or legal questions should be directed to a lawyer or caseworker. Includes the following guides, which are available in English and Spanish (2011):
Guide 1: Your Rights and Responsibilities
Guide 2: How to Work with Your Lawyer
Guide 3: Your Role in Court
3.1: The Court Process
3.2: Who Will Be in Court
3.3: Common Court Terms
Guide 4: Your Role Outside Court
Guide 5: When You Owe Child Support
Guide 6: If You Are or Have Been in Prison
(Scroll to bottom of webpage under section "For Fathers.")
Child and Family Services Reviews – Findings & Practice Regarding Fathers
This PowerPoint was presented by Miranda Lynch Thomas, CFSR Team Lead, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau at a Roundtable on Father Engagement and the Child Welfare System on February 8, 2011. (2011)
Engaging Fathers in Child Protection Cases by Understanding Male Help-Seeking and Learning Styles
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. This judicial bench card from the National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System provides suggestions and information to support judicial offers in these efforts. (2011)
Children’s Bureau Express: Father Engagement
This issue of Children’s Bureau Express spotlights “Engaging Fathers” and the importance of fathers and paternal relatives in the lives of children involved with the child welfare system. Highlighted articles focus on federally funded efforts to study and promote father involvement, as well as promising practices from the field. Children's Bureau Express is designed for professionals concerned with child abuse and neglect, child welfare, and adoption. Children's Bureau Express is supported by the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and published by Child Welfare Information Gateway. (June 2010)
Engaging Nonresident Fathers in Child Welfare Cases: A Guide for Court Appointed Special Advocates
This practice brief was produced by the National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System (QIC NRF). It offers CASA volunteers a new tool to advocate on behalf of children –- reaching out to their fathers. It provides tips on identifying and locating the fathers of children who enter the child welfare system and helps CASA volunteers assess fathers’ capacities to be a placement or other resource for their children. CASA volunteers will learn how to involve paternal relatives in case planning and recognize how fathers learn and seek help differently than do mothers. (2010)
Rise Magazine: Fathers’ Rights and Roles
Children do better when their fathers are involved in raising them, yet child welfare systems have been slow to include fathers in family support services or case planning. It can be difficult for fathers with children in care to access legal representation and appropriate services. In this issue of Rise Magazine, parents write about the steps fathers can take to protect and support their children. Rise magazine is written by and for parents involved in the child welfare system. Its mission is to help parents advocate for themselves and their children. (Spring 2009)
Checklists for Lawyers and Judges on Representing and Engaging Non-Resident Fathers in Child Welfare Court Cases
National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System has prepared a number of checklists for advocating for nonresident fathers in child welfare court cases (2009):
Identifying, Interviewing, and Intervening: Fathers and the Illinois Child Welfare System In this Chapin Hall study, researchers examine the extent to which fathers--stepfathers, putative fathers, legal fathers, adoptive fathers, or biological fathers--were interviewed as a part of the Illinois Integrated Assessment (IA) process and the factors associated with fathers being interviewed. The information in the IA reports provides rich descriptions of the complex circumstances and family roles of fathers. Findings from the study suggest the importance of engaging fathers early in the assessment process; however, sustaining that engagement through services.
Training & Curricula
Engaging Absent Fathers This online curriculum is available from the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Training Program. It includes pre-work resources, curriculum, handouts, overheads, and videos.
Advocating for Non-Resident Fathers in Child Welfare Court Cases Curriculum Lawyers representing non-resident fathers face a range of complex legal and factual challenges. This 2009 curriculum by the National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System at American Bar Association was designed to provide guidance to lawyers on how to navigate issues affecting fathers and their children involved in child welfare proceedings. It provides practical strategies to parents’ attorneys who represent non-resident fathers who are often not the perpetrator of abuse or neglect. It is based upon a series of articles commissioned by the QIC NRF and that appear in the book "Advocating for Fathers in Child Welfare Court Cases." (2009)
Working with African American Fathers: The Forgotten Parent (Trainer Guide and Trainee Guide) The goals of this curriculum are to provide an experiential learning event on the historical relevance and current impacts of slavery on African-American fathers; to develop an awareness of biases against African-American fathers by Child Welfare social workers and their agencies; to present solutions to the systemic biases against African-American fathers within Child Welfare; and to value the application of principles of Fairness and Equity and associated skills and strategies in working with other culturally diverse families within child welfare systems. (November 2009)
