Fatherhood Research & Practice Network

FRPN Announces New Grantees

We are excited to announce that the Fatherhood Research & Practice Network (FRPN) has selected our third group of funded projects. All four projects are led by researcher/practitioner teams and involve the collection of data from program participants and/or staff at pre- and post-program time points to assess changes in father-child relationships and/or coparenting. The teams and their funded projects include:

Armon R. Perry, The University of Louisville, Kent School of Social Work and Aaron C. Rollins, Jr., The University of Louisville, Department of Urban and Public Affairs. “Fatherhood and Coparenting” is an experimental study to assess how engaging mothers in workshops to inform them of skills fathers are learning in 4 Your Child, a New Pathways for Fathers project, impacts coparenting relationships. The mothers and fathers will also be invited to participate in a collaborative decision-making process to develop a written parenting plan. Data will be collected prior to and following the workshops as well as three and six months later.

Selva Lewin-Bizan, University of Hawaii. “A Text-Messaging Intervention to Deliver Parenting Ideas and Support to Low-Income Fathers.” This descriptive study will develop a 12-week text messaging intervention (FTMI) curriculum comprised of information about child development, tips for fathers to become more engaged with their children and encouragement of men in their roles as fathers. The study includes pre- and post-program assessments, focus groups and brief questionnaires administered through the app every three weeks. Maui Family Support Services will recruit 120 fathers to participate.

Erin K. Holmes, Alan J. Hawkins and Kevin Shafer, Brigham Young University. “A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of Responsible Fatherhood Program Evaluations.” This project will obtain published and unpublished reports of evaluation studies on fatherhood programs targeting nonresident and unmarried fathers. Once identified, the studies will be coded and entered into specialized software for meta-analysis to expand understanding of the effectiveness of fatherhood programs among those target audiences.

Qiana R. Cryer-Coupet, North Carolina State University, Department of Social Work. “Understanding the Experiences and Needs of Nonresident Fathers in the Context of Kinship Care.” This assessment will examine the parenting experiences and needs of nonresident fathers with children living in formal and informal kinship care, as well as the experiences of fatherhood practitioners serving this population. The mixed-methods study includes qualitative interviews with 25 fathers and 12 fatherhood program practitioners and online surveys with child welfare workers who have completed training on engaging nonresident fathers.

More information about these projects will be posted on the FRPN website in the coming months. The FRPN has issued funding to 13 projects to evaluate fatherhood programs since 2014. Learn more about these projects here.

Upcoming Webinar: Inside the Black Box: Measuring Service Delivery, Client Engagement and Fidelity

Join the FRPN on Tuesday, March 7 from 12-1:30 p.m. EST for our seventh learning community webinar.

Presenters include:

Cleopatra Howard Caldwell, PhD
Professor and Chair
Director, Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health
University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education

Lanae Davis, MPA
Senior Research Associate, Center for Policy Research
Denver, Colorado

Diane K. Yatchmenoff, PhD
Director, Trauma Informed Oregon
Portland State University

Registration information and a detailed description of the webinar are forthcoming.

FRPN Highlights

FRPN Co-Director Jay Fagan, PhD | Professor, Temple University School of Social Work

© 2017 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.