Introduction
Partnerships with other community organizations and agencies can be an important source of referrals and recruitment for father-serving programs, and a way to expand their support of fathers beyond what they can provide directly themselves. Expanding thinking about partnerships can create opportunities to increase reach, provide additional resources, and form and strengthen a more cohesive web of support for fathers and families. To inspire and inform this expanded thinking, it can be useful to examine other systems that use similar partnership networks in pursuit of valuing and supporting the important roles fathers play in their families and communities.
The Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare (FCL) project was initiated to improve engagement of fathers and paternal relatives in child welfare. As a part of its pilot study, sites representing five child welfare agencies that participated in FCL collaborated with a wide array of community partners to advance the work of engaging fathers and paternal relatives and expand it into the broader community (Fung et al. 2021).
Fung, Nickie, Jennifer Bellamy, Eliza Abendroth, Diletta Mittone, Roseana Bess, and Matthew Stagner. “A Seat at the Table: Piloting Continuous Learning to Engage Fathers and Paternal Relatives in Child Welfare.” OPRE Report #2021-62. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2021.
Purpose
This brief highlights examples of how child welfare agencies participating in the FCL project leveraged partnerships to increase father and paternal relative engagement. This brief also describes how those examples may inform strategies that fatherhood programs can use to increase father engagement; connect fathers and families to resources; create a more cohesive client experience across father-serving organizations; expand capacity to serve a diverse group of fathers; and document, understand, and communicate the outcomes of their programs.
Key Findings and Highlights
Based on the experiences of five child welfare agencies in the FCL project, the brief highlights three considerations transferable to fatherhood programs.
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Partnerships can serve a variety of important purposes. Beyond referrals and recruitment, partnerships can expand the support provided to fathers and families, improve the experience for fathers across the network of resources, expand an organization’s capacity to serve a diverse population of fathers, and help organizations document outcomes, improve services, and communicate the value of fatherhood work.
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Diversifying partners has several benefits. Thinking creatively about partnerships and expanding partner networks can yield a deeper pool of resources and expertise.
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Intentionality is foundational to effective collaboration. To be beneficial, partnerships need to be cultivated thoughtfully.
Methods
The brief draws on data from the FCL pilot study and interviews with participating agency staff members conducted during the descriptive evaluation.
Citation
Cavallo, Sheila, Jennifer Bellamy, Roseana Bess, Sarah Campbell, Brandon Hollie, and Matthew Stagner (2023). The Power of Partnerships: What Fatherhood Programs Can Learn from Child Welfare, OPRE Report #2023-210, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- FCL:
- Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare