1. Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare Cases
Bringing Back the Dads
Handouts:
2007 CLP article
2008 CCW article
Father Friendly Check Up
Curriculum 1-pager and completed handouts
Article Series 1 pager
Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare Cases

2. Overview
Who we are
Why father involvement in child welfare cases is important
Barriers to father engagement
Resources from the QIC NRF
Key strategies to engage fathers
Describe who an NCF/NRF is:
Living outside the home
Was not the perpetrator of abuse/neglect that brought the child into the system
Depending on audience:
Dependency/A/N System:
Civil cases
Children who have been abused, abandoned, neglected

3. Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and Child Welfare
A project operated by:
American Humane
ABA Center on Children and the Law
National Fatherhood Initiative
A Project of the Children’s Bureau Administration on Children, Youth and Families Administration on Children and Families US Department of Health and Human Services

4. QIC-NRF Research Focus
“How is overall child well-being
impacted as a result of
increased father
and paternal relative
involvement in
the public child
welfare system?”

5. QIC NRF-Funded Research Sites
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Tarrant County
Collaborating Fathers Program: Fatherhood Coalition of Tarrant County
Indiana Department of Child Services in Indianapolis
Collaborating Fathers Program: Indiana Fathers and Families Center
Division of Children and Family Services in King County, Washington
Collaborating Fathers Programs: Divine Alternatives for Dads and Fathers In Need
El Paso County Department of Human Services in Colorado Springs, CO
Collaborating Fathers Program: Center on Fathering

6. Facts About Father Involvement
Studies have found that:
63% of black children, 35% of Hispanic children and 28% of white children do not live with their biological father.
In 1997, 65% of poor children did not live with their biological fathers, compared to 25% of children who were not poor.
20% of all non-resident fathers are believed to earn less than $6,000 a year.
[From: Father Facts, National Fatherhood Initiative (2007)]

7. Consequences of Father Absence
Youth from father-absent homes
are more likely to experience:
Poverty
Emotional and behavioral problems
Substance abuse issues
Incarceration
Problems at school (e.g., repeating a grade, dropping out, poor performance)
[From: Father Facts, National Fatherhood Initiative (2007)]

8. Benefits of Father Presence
A review of nearly 100 studies on parent-child relationships found that the child’s relationship with his/her father was equal or more important than the relationship with his/her mother for:
Happiness, well-being and social and academic success
Predicting a child’s emotional instability, lack of self-esteem depression, social withdrawal and level of aggression (based on parental withdrawal)
Delinquency, conduct problems, substance abuse and overall mental health and well-being
[From: Father Facts, National Fatherhood Initiative (2007)]

9. Benefits of Father Presence
2008 Report: More about the Dads:
Exploring Associations between Nonresident Father
Involvement and Child Welfare Case Outcomes
Involvement by nonresident fathers associated with more reunifications and less adoptions.
Higher levels of nonresident father involvement associated with substantially lower likelihood of later maltreatment allegations
Highly involved nonresident fathers’ children exited foster care more quickly
[Based on case file data for children discussed in What about the Dads study]
Talk about What About the Dads—88,55,30,28
More about the dads: Involvement means---father-child involvement is whether the worker reported that the father had been visiting the child, and whether he provided financial or nonfinancial support to the child.

10. Barriers to Father Engagement
2006 Report: What about the Dads?
Data based on telephone interviews with 1,222 caseworkers in four states

11. Barriers to Father Engagement
QIC NRF conducted “key informant interviews” asking groups to identify barriers. Their responses:
Courts
Lack of training
Individual biases/concepts of father engagement
No ongoing oversight of agency location efforts
No questioning of family regarding NRF whereabouts
Failure to ensure NRF and paternal kin are notified of FGDM/FTM
No agency reporting on how visitation or other contact goes between NRF and child
Ask folks if they are aware of other legal/court barriers.
Any instances where some agencies simply refuse to handle dad cases?

12. Barriers to Father Engagement
Child Welfare Agencies
Lack of training
Unfriendly ‘father’ environment
Lack of interagency collaboration to locate NRFs (e.g. child support agency connections)
Lack of policy/procedure to help identify, locate, contact NRFs
Worker reluctance to contact NRF
Feeling that it makes case management more difficult
Mother as ‘gatekeeper’
At NRF’s request
Protecting informal support arrangement
DV issues
Does not know his identity

13. Child and Family Service Reviews
The CFSRs assess each child welfare agency on:
whether they made concerted efforts to involve parents in the case planning process on an ongoing process
whether the caseworker had frequent and high quality meetings with the parents
whether the caseworker demonstrated concerted efforts to provide visits of sufficient quantity and quality to promote continuity in the child’s relationship with the parents and siblings
The CFSR results from almost every state have been disappointing in all of these measures

14. CFSR Final Reports: State Examples
“A primary concern identified was an inconsistency with regard to agency efforts to contact fathers, even in cases in which fathers had been caretakers and/or maintained connections with the children.” (Pennsylvania)
“A primary concern identified was the lack of consistency among workers in providing fathers with adequate attention with respect to their service needs.” (Oklahoma)
“There was a lack of attention to fathers in particular in case planning.” (Georgia)
“A particular concern identified in some cases was the lack of effort to incorporate fathers into any aspect of the case process.” (Washington)

15. Resources from the QIC NRF
Research
4 Child Welfare Agency Sites
Assignment Criteria
Initial Male Caseworker contact
Peer-Led Support group

16. Resources from the QIC NRF
Research
Father Friendly Check Up for Child Welfare Agencies and Social Marketing Tools
Curriculum for Social Workers
Curriculum for Parents’ Attorneys & Article Series
Speaking engagements, presentations at state and national conferences
Available at:

17. The Father Friendly Check-Up for Child Welfare Agencies
Diagnostic tool
Helps assess the degree to which your organization’s operations encourage father involvement in the activities and programs you offer.
Identifies areas for improvement in the father friendliness of your child
welfare agency or organization.

18. Father Friendly Assessment Categories
Leadership & organizational philosophy
Program management policies and procedures
Parent-involvement program
Program physical environment
Staff training and professional development
Collaboration and organizational networking
Community outreach

19. Curriculum for Social Workers
Developed by American Humane
Currently being pilot tested by AH and NFI
Topics Covered:
Focus and goals of the QIC NRF
FFCU areas of assessment
Importance and value of father involvement
Importance of culture in understanding male socialization, perceptions and behavior
Challenges to engaging NRFs
Strategies to involve non-resident fathers in child welfare cases

20. Curriculum for Fathers’ Attorneys
Developed by ABA, based on article series
Pilot testing in DC, CA, MD
To be released by September 30th
Four Modules:
Constitutional rights and responsibilities of NRFs
Strategies for effective advocacy inside the courtroom
Strategies for effective advocacy outside the courtroom
Special ethical considerations involved with representing NRFs

21. Article Series/Book on Representing Non-Resident Fathers
Nonresident Fathers’ Constitutional Rights
Representing Nonresident Fathers In the Courtroom
Understanding Male Help-Seeking Behavior
Involving Nonresident Fathers: Tips for Judges
Representing Incarcerated Fathers
Child Support Issues for NRFs
Ethical Considerations in Representing NRFs
Out of Court Advocacy for NRFs
Special Issues: Substance Abuse, DV, Immigration

22. How to Better Engage NRFs: Lessons from Tarrant County, TX
Taking strategies from the classroom into the community.

23. How to Better Engage NRFs: Lessons from Tarrant County, TX
REACH OUT—Beyond case management to child welfare
“You were persistent. I finally answered on about the 5th call.” - Mihn
“I about cried when I got the letter in the mail.” - Edward
BE RELEVANT—“How is this going to help my child?”
“I’m using this information at visits with my child.” Jerry
BE RELATIONAL—Knowing and being known is transformational.
“It’s a good culmination of classes and I loved seeing everyone’s faces each week.” Donnie
“I’ve shared things with the men in this room that the friends I’ve had for thirty years don’t know, and I’m a better man for it.”
-Homer

24. How to Better Engage NRFs: Lessons from Tarrant County, TX
BE REALISTIC– How he has been does not have to define Who he wants to be and CAN be.
“My experience in this class is like a demolished building being rebuilt from the foundation up. I gained a lot of knowledge from everyone. You have a good method of dealing with us fathers. Lot’s of us didn’t know what a father is and the class helps us see what we’ve never dreamt or been told.”
- Patrick
BE RESPECTFUL—He is somebody’s daddy.
“Thank you for treating us like men.” - Anthony
“I wish the caseworker would treat me like a man- not just a client.” - Alex

25. How to Better Engage NRFs: Lessons from Tarrant County, TX
BE OPTIMISTIC–There is more to a man than meets the eye.
“Ya’ll came in and broke it down to build us up with actions, attitudes, game plan, framework—I was afraid to open up and ya’ll touched on the issues I wouldn’t talk about. I have more to teach my daughter now. Thank you.”
-Isaiah
BUILD on STRENTGHS—We know we are inadequate, but we often aren’t aware that our presence is our greatest strength for our children.
“I was the fastest kids in my high school, but the first time my father couldn’t be at my track meet I quit. I wonder what my absence in my child’s life is keeping him from accomplishing.”
-Terrence

26. How to Better Engage NRFs: Lessons from Tarrant County, TX
High value placed on family connections
for children should determine policy and practice in investigations, court proceedings, service planning, case management, and permanency planning.
Shapes new attitudes toward the children we serve AND the parents directly responsible for them
Allows us to do casework within the context of relationship building
Determines the nature of services we offer parents
Reshapes client and community perceptions of child welfare service
Reframes how we perceive the strengths in struggling families

27. How to Better Engage NRFs: Lessons from Tarrant County, TX
Eric & Ariel
Communicating VALUE in Engagement

28. How to Better Engage NRFs: Court Perspective
#1: Know NRFs’ Basic Legal Rights
#2 Identify/Locate NRFs Early
#3 Address & Understand NRFs’ Right to Visit
#4 Engage NRF in Case Planning
#5 Be Aware of NRFs’ Other Legal Issues

29. #1: Know NRFs’ basic legal rights Why
#1: Know NRFs’ basic legal rights Why? Failure to understand these rights may lead to a court’s reversal of agency decisions and actions that may ultimately delay permanency and harm children
Constitutional Rights*
Notice of proceedings
Visitation
Request Custody
Hearing before TPR
Clear & Convincing Standard
*in order for the non-resident father to be entitled to notice, he must: (1) have established a relationship with his child, or (2) have seized the opportunity to establish such a relationship.
How to perfect these rights depends on state law and practice:
Putative father registry
Name on birth certificate
File an affidavit of paternity or begin paternity proceedings
Married to mother at time of conception or birth (Michael H. v. Gerald D).
Note—parents don’t have a constitutional right to counsel, even though they get it in most jxs.
Note: Michael H SCT case

30. #1: Know NRFs’ basic legal rights
Even assuming the NRF has ‘perfected’ his legal right to his child, he still might not be afforded the full compliment of constitutional protections custodial parents receive.
Different State Approaches
Court can assume jurisdiction based on conduct of one parent; can compel NRF to comply with services (e.g. Michigan, Ohio)
Court can assume jurisdiction based on conduct of one parent, but must award physical custody to NRF absent a finding of unfitness; can compel NRF to comply with services (e.g. California, Florida)
Court cannot assume jurisdiction if there is one fit parent, regardless of the conduct of the other; before dismissal, can award custody to NRF and enter findings against custodial parent. (e.g. Maryland, Pennsylvania)
Provide these tips to respond to a court unwillingness to place child w/ dad:
Move to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction
Challenge the imposition of services
Request immediate placement (ICPC)
File a separate custody case

31. #2 Identify/Locate NRFs Early
Why? Failure to properly notify the NRF may violate his constitutional rights. This may:
Delay court proceedings
Result in a reversal of judicial findings regarding the father at hearings to which he was not properly notified
Deprive the child of important paternal resources (including paternal relatives) before a permanency decision is made
Delay permanency
Note, In re Baby Girl Clausen, 502 N.W.2d 649 (Mich. 1993) (commonly referred to as the Baby Jessica case) and In re Petition to Adopt Baby Boy Janikova, 638 N.E.2d 181 (Ill. 1994) (commonly referred to as the Baby Richard case). In both, fraudulent disclosures by biological mothers regarding fathers’ identities caused years of litigation, significant delays in finding permanency for the children, and led to the removal of the children from their established adoptive homes by placing them with their biological fathers with whom they had no prior relationship.

32. #2 Identify/Locate NRFs Early
How? In addition to procedures outlined by your
child welfare agency’s policy or practice, contemplate:
Asking father’s counsel to examine the mother and family under oath to get identifying information about the NRF
Request that the mother and her counsel file an affidavit concerning paternity
Request that the judge inquire at each hearing about the NRFs whereabouts until he is found
See if the NRF has other legal cases that will help you locate him (e.g. domestic relations, child support, criminal)
This slide discusses the way the agency SWer can help use the COURT process to identify NRFs
Note, In re Baby Girl Clausen, 502 N.W.2d 649 (Mich. 1993) (commonly referred to as the Baby Jessica case) and In re Petition to Adopt Baby Boy Janikova, 638 N.E.2d 181 (Ill. 1994) (commonly referred to as the Baby Richard case). In both, fraudulent disclosures by biological mothers regarding fathers’ identities caused years of litigation, significant delays in finding permanency for the children, and led to the removal of the children from their established adoptive homes by placing them with their biological fathers with whom they had no prior relationship.

33. #3 Address & Understand NRFs’ Rights to Visit
Why? To ensure the child maintains or establishes important family connections or is not harmed by improper contact with the NRF.
Biological parents have a legal right to visit their children. This right may be limited if it may or will harm the child or is not in their best interest (depending on state law).
If the NRF is not the perpetrator and there are no safety concerns, the NRF has the right to request liberal unsupervised visitation with his child. (although this is not always allowed by courts wary of previously uninvolved NRFs)
Some states say the court can’t overrule the agency’s visitation decision unless it violates the law (e.g. MA). Others use a best interest standard (e.g. CA). Others use a higher, detrimental to the child standard (e.g. DC).
FL standard for visitation:

34. #4 Engage NRFs in Case Planning
Why?
To provide him with appropriate supportive services to maintain or establish a relationship with his child
To avoid ‘no reasonable efforts’ findings
To expedite permanency either with NRF or another placement option
How?
Solicit NRF’s and his counsel’s input on elements of a successful case plan
Identify supportive services that are gender-responsive
Avoid service overload
Coordinate services that are accessible and can be completed within a reasonable timeframe
R.E. Note: Parent’s counsel may Argue no reasonable efforts findings if NRF or paternal relatives were available but not explored as placement options or NRF was not given services needed to become a resource for the child
Accessible Services Note: If dad can’t get there because of transportation problems or because they are scheduled only during working hours, this may delay his ability to reunify with the child and act as an obstacle to finding permanency in another home. If he could not reasonably comply with the services identified, he has a strong defense against TPR.
If NCF is not interested in assuming custody of the child, request information about his family
Help him understand the importance of court ordered services and help him keep track of appointments
Ask the client what he thinks he needs to be more involved in his child’s life
Ensure incarcerated NCF is given opportunity to participate and receive appropriate services

35. #5 Be Aware of NRFs’ Other Legal Issues
Why? To better assess his service needs and capacity to engage in the child welfare process.
Child Support
Criminal
Domestic Relations
Immigration
How?
Search publicly available court and criminal records
Contact child support agency (depending on confidentiality rules)
Ask NRF or his counsel in the course of case planning

36. Father Engagement: What CIP Programs Can Do
Offer training on father’s rights and advocacy for/engagement of fathers
Develop forms and resource lists
Gender-specific services in your jurisdiction
Affidavit for mother to provide info about father
Advocate for court rules and policies
Questioning of parties regarding whereabouts of NRFs
Continued efforts to identify, locate and contact father (beyond just detention hearing and TPR)
Accommodations for out-of-state or incarcerated fathers to be able to participate in hearings in person or by phone
Early appointment of attorneys for fathers

37. Contact Ron Clark rclark@fatherhood.org Karen Bird
Tommy Jordan
Lisa Pilnik
QIC NRF