Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Father absence has profound impacts on the lives of children.  In some neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., more than 75 percent of children are raised in female headed single parent families.  While there is some engagement of fathers in the lives of these children, in most cases the birth father is absent from the life of his children and unavailable to provide emotional and financial support to both the children and to the mother. 

The five Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaboratives that serve high risk populations in the District of Columbia have a 14 year history of supporting fathers, assisting in stabilizing their life situations, learning the importance of their role as a father, developing parenting skills and reconnecting or improving the father’s relationship with the mother of his children.  The population we have served has been primarily African American men often times with history of involvement in the criminal justice system, low educational achievement, histories of chronic unemployment and dealing with unresolved mental health and substance abuse issues. 

These efforts have been supported and coordinated by the Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaborative Council, by serving as liaison to funders, training for staff, data management and technical assistance.  The Collaboratives have collectively served over 2,000 fathers.  We will provide an overview of the challenges faced in serving these fathers, children and families and the lessons learned from this work.

Special emphasis will be placed on: (1) engaging fathers, (2) provision of basic stabilization supports for fathers, (3) utilization of an evidence based curriculum to assist fathers in recognizing the importance of their role as fathers, (4) assisting fathers in gaining the skills to be positive co-parents by better providing emotional and financial support for their families, (5) working with other public systems, including Child Protective Services and the Child Support agencies, and (6) establishing or strengthening the relationship between the father and the birth mother.