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August 2016Vol. 17, No. 6Improving Father Engagement

The National Abandoned Infants Assistance (AIA) Resource Center released a research-to-practice brief to assist agencies and professionals from a variety of disciplines in better engaging fathers in services and helping fathers improve their involvement with their children. The brief, Engaging Fathers in Services, describes research regarding the benefits of father involvement on child well-being, such as the following:

  • Better educational outcomes
  • More confidence and emotional security
  • Higher level cognitive and social skills
  • Better self-control and improved self-esteem

The brief also discusses reasons why fathers may not be involved with their children, for example, due to spousal conflict, separation, or divorce; previously modeled father-son relationships; or adverse circumstances like unemployment, mental illness, substance use, and domestic violence. The brief concludes with strategies agencies and professionals can use to engage fathers, including those with substance use issues or who are incarcerated.

The brief is available on the National AIA Resource Center website at http://aia.berkeley.edu/media/pdf/brief_fatherengagement.pdf (2 MB).