1. Paths to Father Involvement: The Early Head Start Fatherhood Demonstration in Its Third Year. Final Report
- Author
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Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (DHHS), Head Start Bureau, Burwick, Andrew, Bellotti, Jeanne, and Nagatoshi, Charles
- Abstract
Father involvement enhances children's well-being. A growing body of research supports this conclusion, showing that children with involved fathers exhibit greater school readiness, increased cognitive development, higher levels of empathy, and other positive characteristics (Administration for Children and Families 2004a). Research also indicates that many low-income fathers are present and involved in the lives of their young children (Vogel et al. 2003). As the importance of fathers' involvement in raising children has become clear, policymakers' interest in effective strategies for engaging fathers in early childhood programs also has grown. In February 2001, the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) partnered with the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) to fund 21 Early Head Start fatherhood demonstration projects. Selected through a competitive process, the demonstration grantees were funded for three years to develop and implement creative practices that would lead to increased involvement of fathers in Early Head Start and in the lives of their children. ACYF also commissioned an evaluation by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) to track the progress of grantees, focusing on the strategies they adopted and the challenges they faced. The first phase of the evaluation resulted in two reports, highlighting the demonstration programs' planning and implementation process and documenting lessons regarding staffing structures, making programs father-friendly, recruiting fathers and designing services for them, and creating partnerships with child support agencies. In this report, the authors present findings from the third year of the demonstration, focusing on the evolution of program practices, perceived results of the demonstration, and sustainability of father involvement projects. Appended are: (1) Staff Survey (Director Version); and (2) Father/Father-Figure Information Form. Individual sections contain footnotes. (Contains 10 tables and 4 figures.)
- Published
- 2004