Fatherhood Research & Practice Network

FRPN Grantee Report

Since 2014, the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network (FRPN) has awarded funding to 20 research projects. A new report for one project is now available.

Examining the Real Dads Read Program: Barbers' and Fathers' Reflections and Experiences

The Real Dads Read program places little libraries in barbershops to encourage fathers to read to their children while they wait for a haircut. Fathers are able to share books in the barbershop and also take the books, which are intentionally chosen to be culturally relevant for African American families, home for free. Georgia State University received FRPN funding to examine barbers' implementation of Real Dads Read in 21 barbershops located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Findings from qualitative interviews demonstrate that barbers had varying degrees of knowledge about and buy-in to the program. Barbers who saw themselves as "readers" discussed the importance of the program in supporting children's learning, articulated specific strategies that they used to encourage fathers to share books with their children while at the barbershops, and endorsed the need for taking books home to bolster children's home libraries. Some of the barbers saw the book distribution program as external to the nature of the barbershop as a place of business.

Study findings have implications for using barbershops as literacy-focused resources for families.

Download the study.

Seeking COVID-19 News and Solutions

During these extraordinary times, the FRPN would like to learn about and disseminate innovative solutions about how the coronavirus (COVID-19) is affecting low-income fathers and the fatherhood programs that serve them. Has it affected how you conduct fatherhood programming? The services you offer? Are your program participants experiencing new issues and needs with respect to child support? Unemployment? Contact with their children? Are you conducting research on fatherhood and COVID-19?

We want to hear from you. Please email us at jspearson@centerforpolicyresearch.org. We plan to distribute updates based on your reports in future Blueprints.

New OPRE Reports on Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Grantees

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation recently released several new reports of research studies conducted in the areas of strengthening families, healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood.

As part of the Fatherhood and Marriage Local Evaluation (FaMLE) Cross-Site Project conducted by Mathematica, The 2015 Cohort of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Grantees: Interim Report on Grantee Programs and Clients describes how this cohort of grantees recruited and served clients, who enrolled in their programs, how clients changed while in the program, how grantees staffed their programs, and what implementation challenges they faced.

The second report, Pathways-To-Outcomes: How Responsible Fatherhood Program Activities May Lead To Intended Outcomes, describes four programs models depicting evidence-informed hypotheses that practitioners and program developers can use to design and implement fatherhood programs.

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 was 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.