Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

The increase in father involvement over the past several decades has been accompanied by a growing interest among researchers in studying the role that fathers play in the lives of their children. Findings from these studies overwhelmingly show that children with involved fathers fare better across a wide range of domains compared to children without an active father. Policy makers have taken notice, and increasingly, programs are available for fathers that teach parenting and co-parenting skills, help fathers gain self-sufficiency, and aim to reconnect fathers with their families.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, developed the Fatherhood EFFECT program (EFFECT) to support fathers, strengthen families, and increase father involvement through evidence-based fatherhood programs across the state. EFFECT aims to improve children’s wellbeing by helping fathers become more involved, responsible, and committed to their children through parent education skills, guidance, and support systems. Additionally, EFFECT aims to increase protective factors—family functioning and resilience, social support, knowledge of parenting and child development, co-parenting, concrete support, and nurturing and attachment— to reduce the risk of child maltreatment and promote positive family wellbeing.

Using a mixed-methods approach that relies on administrative and survey data collected from more than 1000 fathers participating in four program sites across the state, as well as interviews and focus groups with program administrators, father educators, and fathers, we conducted an outcomes and implementation evaluation of the program. This paper shares findings related to three key questions: What motivates fathers to participate in the program, why do fathers continue to attend the program, and what changes in knowledge, skills, and behavior are associated with program participation. We also paid close attention to challenges fathers encounter to program participation.

Based on analyses of the qualitative data, we find that many fathers initially connect with the programs to appease a judge or probation officer, yet quickly find value in the program beyond this initial reason. Fathers also seek fatherhood programs when they have reached a very low spot in their lives (lost custody of their children, re-entering their families after a stint in prison, homeless and disconnected), and the programs provide a sense of hope that was missing.

Fathers stay in the programs because of the social support the fathers receive from their peers within the programs (“it’s not a class, it’s a group”), the connections they make with the program facilitators, and the instrumental resources that the programs help connect fathers with. Experiencing changes in the way they parent or their child interacts with them because of their new skills encourages many fathers to stay in the programs.

We are completing collection and analysis of administrative and survey data to determine the changes in knowledge, skills, and behaviors associated with program participation. Qualitative data suggests that fathers develop more confidence in themselves as men and fathers, and learn skills such as more adaptive disciplinary strategies, patience, and engagement with their child.