1. Engaging with Fathers in Children’s Services
David Bartlett
Services Manager

2. Developing Father-Inclusive Practice
Policies and laws
How fathers impact on children
Services
Fathers and child protection

3. Who are FATHERS DIRECT? founded 1999
provider of training, consultancy and publications to help children’s services meet Government requirements to engage effectively with fathers
grounds its work in the EVIDENCE of the impact, both positive and negative, of fathers in the lives of children and mothers
very concerned with GENDER EQUITY: unless men are significantly involved in raising children, women can never fulfil their potential in the wider world

4. Changing times: changing policies
CHILDCARE – , British fathers’ care of infants and young children rose 800% from 15 minutes to two hours on average working day. British dads do 25% of family’s childcare-related activities during the week, and one-third at weekends. More where both parents work full-time.
WORK - % of British mothers of babies under 1 year old who had returned to work rose from 36% to 49% between 1990 and 2000.
- British fathers in fulltime employment work 46 hrs a week. 3% of employed dads work part-time.
PARENTAL ASPIRATIONS - Fathers more satisfied when they spend more time doing childcare; mothers more satisfied with housework share when they do more paid work.
PARENTAL SEPARATION - Separated fathers seeing more of their children, and more likely to spend ‘overnights’ with them than in previous generations

5. Research on father-child relationships
Mothers, fathers and children are part of a complex social system in which each person influences all the others. Children with highly involved fathers tend to have:
better friendships
greater capacity for empathy
higher educational outcomes
fewer behaviour problems
lower criminality and
substance abuse
non-traditional attitudes to
earning and childcare
higher self-esteem and
life-satisfaction (for reviews see Flouri 2005; Pleck and Masciadrelli 2004)

6. A good-enough father can ‘BUFFER’ a child against disadvantage
Vulnerable children (eg with very young mothers, or in poor or separated families) are in greatest need of ongoing positive relationships with their fathers, eg:
Where mothers of very young children are employed full-time, substantial care by fathers moderates any negative effects
Secure attachment with the father reduces disturbance in children whose mother suffers from a mental illness, including Post Natal Depression

7. Bad Dads
Children tend to do badly when their father’s parenting is poor, e.g.
Fathers’ low interest in children’s education has stronger negative impact on their achievement than: poverty, family type, social class
Fathers’ antisocial personality disorder associated with problems of conduct and aggression in children and adolescents (the more children see of their fathers, the worse the impact)
Fathers’ harsh or neglectful parenting are strongly associated with behaviour problems in children. Fathers’ harsh parenting has stronger effect than mothers’ on children’s aggression
Getting on badly with EVEN ONE PARENT more than doubles likelihood of young person engaging in anti-social behaviour

8. No Dads When children rarely or never see their fathers, they tend to:
demonise or idealise them
blame themselves for their absence
suffer substantial distress, anger and self-doubt
BUT…where non-resident fathers relationships with their children are warm, supportive and authoritative, and their level of involvement is sufficient, this impacts positively on their children.

9. Fathers’ impact on MOTHERS’ behaviour and relationships with their children
heavy drinking by fathers is associated with double the risk of insecure attachments between mothers and infants
father’s smoking is by far the biggest predictor of the mother’s smoking
fathers’ beliefs that breastfeeding is best for baby, helps with bonding and protects baby from disease, are associated with mothers’ intention to breastfeed

10. To summarise…
a ‘good-enough’ father-child relationship is of enormous value to children
…especially in vulnerable families – e.g. young mother, poor family
…whether or not parents live together
…father-figures matter too
…father-mother relationships matter too
Quality of father-child relationships more variable than mother-child relationships

11. Research on effectiveness of services
Participation by fathers in interventions leads to
* increased knowledge and understanding of child development;
* more confident, sensitive and positive parenting
* more (and more interactive) involvement in infant and child care
Parent education can be delivered equally effectively to mother or father, BUT even better if delivered to both: each parent’s sensitivity towards their child (and their child’s attachment to them) enhanced. Intellectual gains in 6 month old infants greater when BOTH mums and dads trained in infant communication
Case study evidence: engaging with problematic men can stimulate positive change:
* helping them realise their behaviour’s negative impact on their children
* initially limiting contact with child while supporting father to tackle very negative behaviour
* helping dads get more confident and skilful

12. Government Policy
In the last 3 years, increasing EXPECTATION AND REQUIREMENT TO INCLUDE FATHERS in local service delivery:
The National Service Framework for Children, Young People & Maternity Services (2004)
The Childcare Act (2006)
The Equality Act (2006)
The Children’s Centre Practice Guidance & Planning and Performance Management Guidance (2006)
Every Parent Matters (2007)
Aiming High for Children (2007)
Teenage Parents Next Steps (2007)

13. The Childcare Act (2006) The Equality Act (2006)
local authorities must identify parents and prospective parents who are
unlikely to use early childhood services (e.g. fathers – specifically
mentioned), and facilitate their access to those services.
The Equality Act (2006)
public bodies (including health, education, children’s services) must:
publish an action plan for promoting gender equality
undertake a gender impact assessment to assess differential impact on women and men of services to be commissioned
gather information on how their services impact on men and women, and consult with men and women who use them, in ways they find accessible

14. Every Parent Matters (DCSF, 2007)
“Irrespective of the degree of involvement they have in the care of their children, fathers should be offered routinely the support and opportunities they need to play their parental role effectively”
systematic information gathering about fathers
routine engagement with fathers in all services – not enough to offer “dads’ groups” or specialist services
services generally be available to fathers in all social groups - including disadvantaged dads, and those in groups which access services relatively rarely (e.g. young, BME, non-resident fathers)
consult with fathers, and involve them in planning services

15. Children’s Centre Practice Guidance and Planning and Performance Management Guidance (2006)
Require all Centres to:
(i) publicise all their services to fathers specifically
(ii) consult with fathers and involve them in planning, delivery and governance of services
(iii) have effective systems to gather information about fathers in all the families with whom they are in contact
(iv) routinely offer support to all fathers, particularly socially excluded fathers
(v) recruit and train all staff to be sensitive to the needs of fathers (vi) monitor how far different groups of dads have accessed services, and what they thought of them. 
How well Children’s Centres engage with the most excluded fathers is now a Performance Indicator
Together for Children Toolkit ‘Reaching Priority and Excluded Families’ (2007) – includes planning checklist concerning fathers

16. Teenage Parents Next Steps: Guidance for Local
Authorities and Primary Care (2007, DH & DCFS)
Working with young fathers seen as a priority
emphasises the need to “develop a culture in which the starting point is that young fathers’ involvement in the pregnancy and birth is beneficial for the mother and child and that services should be designed so that they are inclusive of young fathers, rather than one which starts with the presumption that the young father is a problem.”

17. Implications for Workforce Development
key qualities frontline staff need to engage well with fathers and mothers largely the same
many workers still display these qualities more readily with female service users (lack of knowledge about fathers’ roles in children’s lives; misunderstanding of own professional role; lack of experience or confidence)
SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HOW TO ENGAGE WITH AND SUPPORT FATHERS NEEDED

18. Which fathers should we be engaging with?
“When the baby was born, I found it really hard to …get used to her. ‘Cos…I was like “Oh right, nothing’s ever for ever and it’s always going to end up f***** up or like, you know, break up”. So….I distanced myself from Emily and Anna anyway, but it’s only…in the last six, seven, eight months that I’ve started to sort of take more involvement in it. I was just scared of doing something wrong, and sort of either hurting her, or just doing something wrong full stop”.
“I know I could tell her anything, but I don’t want to, I wouldn’t want to burden her with no more stress, kind of thing…..I’ve lost a bit of weight…I’ve lost nearly a stone in two weeks”.
“When I was a kid I wasn’t shown love or nothing. The only time I was shown affection was when I was being with a girl. But now, when Hannah was born I didn’t know what to do…Now it’s only just coming around where I’m getting used to it”.