Fatherhood Research & Practice Network

New FRPN Grantee Reports

Since 2014, the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network (FRPN) has awarded funding to 20 research projects. New reports for two projects are now available.

Fatherhood Programs: Factors Associated with Retention, Completion, and Outcomes

Researchers from Ohio University received FRPN funding to conduct a mixed methods study exploring factors associated with retention, completion, and outcomes across seven Ohio fatherhood agencies.

The researchers conducted a one-group, pretest-post-test study to obtain quantitative and qualitative feedback from 357 fathers residing in the community and 432 incarcerated fathers related to relationships with their children, parenting classes or communication, child support, legal issues, employment, and referrals, education, or counseling.

While only about half of all the enrolled fathers completed the programming, findings showed that the fathers who completed classes and received case management services were very satisfied with their relationships with staff and other fathers, the interventions they received, their overall experiences, and their outcomes. Community fathers who completed case management services reported a significant increase in their involvement with children and in the quality of the father-mother coparenting alliance between pretest and post-test. Implications for fatherhood practitioners and researchers are discussed in the study.

Download the study.

Exploring Systems Change: Adoption, Implementation, and Consequences of the Inclusion of Fathers as Residents in Family Homeless Shelters

The FRPN provided funding to Temple University researchers to conduct a study examining the adoption, implementation, and consequences of a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania policy shift from excluding fathers as residents in family emergency shelters to including fathers as residents in family emergency shelters. This study explores this change through qualitative interviews conducted with three stakeholder groups: the City of Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services Staff (which oversees publicly funded shelter services), shelter staff representing nine out of the 10 emergency family shelters, and parents (mothers and fathers) residing in family shelters.

Both shelter staff and parents in the shelters report benefits and drawbacks to having fathers residing in family emergency shelters. While keeping families together strengthens families, living in a shelter alters some family dynamics, which can present new challenges. Recommendations for direct service, advocacy/training, research, and policy are presented in the study report.

Review the study.

Findings from FRPN State Planning Grant Initiative

In January 2019, FRPN announced that 11 states were selected to receive $10,000 state planning grants for projects to be conducted over nine months. The 11 states included: Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Washington, and Wyoming.

The purpose of this funding was to enhance father inclusion in state programs and policies dealing with children and families. Recipients involved a wide array of stakeholders to conduct planning activities aimed at improving father involvement and generating more reliable funding for community–based fatherhood programs.

Reports related to activities and challenges as well as implementation and lessons learned from the state planning mini grant initiative have been published on the FRPN website.

Pursuing Father Inclusion at the State Level through FRPN Planning Grants

Implementations & Lessons Learned from the FRPN State Planning Grant Initiative

Federal Funding Available for Child Support Agencies to Work with Fathers and Families

The Office of Child Support Enforcement has issued an information Memorandum that explains how state child support agencies can obtain and use federal funds to deliver services dealing with: employment programs for noncustodial parents, fatherhood programs, and establishment of parenting time orders in conjunction with financial support orders. States must contribute 34% of the cost of the project using foundation/private funds or state funds that do not have a federal source.

Learn more about the OCSE Memorandum.

Article on Meta–analysis of Fatherhood Programs Published

Holmes, E. K., Egginton, B.M., Hawkins, A.J., Robbins, N.L., & Shafer, K. (2020). Do responsible fatherhood programs work? A comprehensive meta-analytic study. Family Relations, Advanced publication. DOI:10.1111/fare.12435

This FRPN–funded study investigated the effectiveness of fatherhood programs targeting unmarried, low–income, nonresident fathers. After conducting a systematic search for published and unpublished evaluations of fathering programs, the researchers carried out a meta-analysis of 25 research reports. The results showed that fatherhood programs produce small but statistically significant effects on father involvement, parenting, and coparenting. The authors concluded there is a continued need for evaluation of programs focused on unmarried, nonresident, low-income fathers.

Supporting Our Network

The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is being felt around the world. During these difficult and uncertain times, the FRPN team sends our support to all of you. We wish you good health and safety as we come together to ensure the well-being of our community.

FRPN Co-Director Jay Fagan, PhD | Professor, Temple University School of Social Work
FRPN Co-Director Jessica Pearson, PhD | Director, Center for Policy Research

© 2020 Fatherhood Research & Practice Network. All rights reserved
The Fatherhood Research and Practice Network is supported by grant #90PR0006 from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents are solely the responsibility of the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network, Temple University and the Center for Policy Research and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.