PowerPoint Presentation

Engaging Fathers in the Child Welfare System

a caseworker toolkit1Alex Trebeck

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Fatherhood in Colorado

Colorado Fatherhood Council

Public Awareness Ad Campaign focusing on importance of fathers

Training Academies on Fatherhood

Ongoing technical assistance

Program Audit/Evaluation www.coloradodads.com

Internet-based Management Information System

Additional resources: National Fatherhood Initiative www.fatherhood.org & the Fatherhood Clearinghouse www.fatherhood.gov

3Colorado Dads

www.coloradodads.com 4Partnering with Child Support

Child Support has been working with dads for years

They have the tools to locate absent fathers

Our Child Support Office houses POP Program

Fathers Experiences/Child Support Video : http://vimeo.com/20719328

5Addressing Domestic Violence And Father Engagement

6What are the Concerns if DV is present or suspected?

If dad is the perpetrator: Children/mothers continue to be exposed to abuse

May seek access to mother who does not want contact

Abuse may be hidden dynamic

Inadequate resources to deal with DV & Parenting issues7I added this bullet to add a disclaimer since dad isn't always the perpetrator of abuse in DV cases. Feel free to adjust this slide however you see fit, but I think it is important to note somewhere so others interested in using the PowerPoint are given that reminder. Why engage a DV Batterer?

Enhance the safety and well being of children

Transform Dads contact with their children from negative to positive experience

How your children see you = CHANGE

8Again, you may want to write "Male DV Batterer" or something. Maybe even an asteric on the first slide about DV mentioning that not all DV is perpetrated by men, but for the sake of this presentation, that will be the focus.Something My Father Would Do

What does the story tell you about the effects of violence on children?

How do you think the cultures of the men affect their choices?

What does the story tell you about fatherhood and violence?

9Parenting and the DV Batterer

Emphasis on empathy

Child centered

Appropriate boundaries

Healthy discipline

10Research has shown that some mothers who have suffered abuse want their children to have safer and healthier contact with their fathers and positive involvement by a father figure can be very beneficial to childrens development (Family Violence Prevention Fund, 2006)

11Except in cases where children are terrified of the battering parent or have been abused by him directly, children tend to desire some degree of ongoing contact with their fathers (Bancroft and Silverman, 2002)

12The following slides are for Appendix Materials Activity Level Increases

Reduces Stress Related Ailments

Nurturing Side is Enhanced

Lower Risk for Clinical Depression

Job Satisfaction Improves

Cope Better With Daily Life

Life Expectancy Enhanced

Whats in it for DADS?

14Whats in it for the Children?Higher cognitive achievement

Reduced risk of child abuse or neglect

Enhanced coping skills

Lower risk for substance abuse

Lessened chance of teen pregnancy

Better relationships with others

Less chance of criminal behaviors

15Whats in it for Child Welfare? Length of placements are reduced

Reduces potential for future abuse/neglect

Reaching out to paternal family increases natural supports and protection of children

Fathers can help problem solve

Break cycle of child welfare involvement

Creates environment of trust and partnership

16Ring out the old Ring in the New

OLD EXPECTATION:

Multi-problem unemployed men are impossible to reach and not interested in taking responsibility for their children.

NEW EXPECTATION:

Multi-problem unemployed men can be reached and want to learn to take responsibility for their children.

17OLD EXPECTATION:

Low-income men who say they want to establish paternity just want to get back at the mother.

NEW EXPECTATION:

Low-income men who say they want to establish paternity want a chance to be fathers sometimes the fathers they never were or never had.

18OLD EXPECTATION:

Men and women cant raise children together if they are not living in the same household. The job should go to the mother.

NEW EXPECTATION:

Men and women can learn to co-parent, even if they are not living in the same household. This helps mother, father, and child.

19Male Help-Seeking Behaviors

Understanding Male SocializationSocially constructed ideas cultivate:

Emotional Conflict

Behavioral Problems

Emotional Pain which presents as stoic, firm, or detached

20Societal Factors

Expressing sadness, fear and frustration is considered to be un-masculine

Anger is an acceptable male emotion

Being physically strong

Ambition and competition

Economic success

Sexual conquests

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Barriers to Men Seeking Help

Admitting to problem

Difficulty in asking for help

Being perceived as weak

Fear of intimacy and vulnerability

Scarcity of treatment approaches for men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxtUH_bHBxs

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Biological & Communication Differences between Men and WomenWomen communicate in a more straightforward manner than men, particularly when the subject of conversation has to do with relationships and feelings.

Men are more direct in their communication, such as when they are offering advice to others.

Women are more indirect when making requests. Often women will make the request sound more like a suggestion so they are not seen as being too bold.

When women listen to someone speak, they tend to make a lot of eye contact, whereas men might not look at the person who is speaking to them. Women also use cues designed to indicate that they are listening, such as saying things like "yeah" and "uh-huh." Men generally do not use a lot of these cues when they are listening to someone.

At birth, a boy's brain is bigger than a girl's brain.

Even though a man seems to have more brain cells, it is reported that women have more dendritic connections between brain cells.

Women are better in certain language abilities

Men are better in certain spatial abilities

Many men are sharply left-brain dominant, while women tend to be more evenly balanced between left and right-brain processing. Women are therefore thought to be slightly more intuitive, and sometimes better communicators. Men are often less socially adept, and are more task-oriented thinkers than females.

The father who would taste the essence of his fatherhood must turn back from the plane of his experience, take with him the fruits of his journey and begin again beside his child, marching step by step over the same old road.- Angelo Patri

24Wrap UpQuestions??

Thoughts??

Ideas??

Pure Loves like MagicTyler Osterhaus - Fathers and Daughtershttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GJQ0PLuFyo

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Louise J. Kaplan

Fathers represent another way of looking at life - the possibility of an alternative dialogue.

26Many Thanks to