Introduction
Child Trends’ Coparenting and Healthy Relationship and Marriage Education for Dads (CHaRMED) project ran from September 2018 to June 2022 and was funded by the Office of Family Assistance and overseen by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families. The project aimed to:
- Better understand the approaches that fatherhood programs use to support fathers’ healthy coparenting and romantic relationships
- Explore fathers’ perceptions of and needs around relationship programming, and
- Examine whether and how programs respond to those needs.
As part of this project, Child Trends conducted a qualitative study with nine fatherhood programs across the United States. This brief summarizes key considerations for healthy relationship programming in fatherhood programs based on the CHaRMED study.
Purpose
These considerations from the CHaRMED study can inform the way fatherhood programs support fathers’ healthy coparenting and romantic relationships.
Methods
The CHaRMED project team conducted a qualitative study with nine fatherhood programs across the United States. The study consisted of semi-structured telephone interviews with fatherhood program staff (n= 24), participating fathers (n= 36), and coparents of participating fathers (n= 6). The interviews assessed fathers’ and program staff’s perceptions of coparenting and romantic relationship services, fathers’ engagement in the services, and perspectives on how fatherhood programs support, or could better support, the needs of fathers and their families. Interviews were transcribed and coded for emerging themes. Interviews were supplemented by a review of program curricula to determine the focus, goals, duration, and target audiences for relationship-related program content.