Serving Young Fathers in Responsible Fatherhood Programs

Publication Date: December 6, 2023
Serving Young Fathers in Responsible Fatherhood Programs - Title Page

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  • Pages: 64
  • Published: 2023

Introduction

Research Questions

  1. What are the characteristics of young fathers currently enrolled in RF programs and how do these characteristics compare with those of older fathers?
  2. What common challenges do programs face in identifying, enrolling, and serving young fathers?
  3. How have programs addressed these challenges?

Young fathers (that is, fathers under age 30) are uniquely situated to benefit from Responsible Fatherhood (RF) programs, which provide services to support parenting, healthy relationships, and economic stability. Young fathers are typically more likely to be in regular contact with their children and their children’s mother — compared to older fathers—but have limited parenting experience, making the parenting and relationship supports particularly helpful (Robbers, 2009). Young fathers also may not be as financially secure as older fathers, and therefore could be more likely to benefit from employment services (Smeeding et al., 2011). Given their distinct experiences and needs, young fathers may be more likely to benefit from RF services. We sought to better understand how to RF programs could best serve this population.

Purpose

This white paper aims to provide insights into how to best serve young fathers in RF programs. We first provide a description of young fathers who are currently enrolled in the 2020 cohort of RF grant recipients and how this group compares to older fathers. We also explore common challenges that RF programs face in recruiting and engaging young fathers in their services and offer several strategies that programs can use to help overcome these challenges.

Key Findings and Highlights

We found that young fathers differed from older fathers in a few key areas. Young fathers were more likely than older fathers to:

  • Identify as Black or Latino
  • Live with their children
  • Be in a steady relationship
  • Be employed or not looking for work

Young fathers were less likely than older fathers to:

  • Have a high school diploma or GED
  • Have health insurance
  • Participate in workshop sessions

This white paper also highlights several challenges that programs face with recruiting and engaging young fathers.

Recruitment challenges include:

  • Young fathers can be difficult to locate through traditional community partners
  • Young fathers often mistrust services, perhaps due to negative experiences with other organizations or systems
  • Young fathers might doubt that they will benefit from RF services

Engagement challenges include:

  • Young fathers tend to have urgent needs and often are juggling competing priorities
  • Many young fathers are grappling with their identities—as men and as fathers, and their future careers
  • Young fathers might not be mentally or emotionally ready to participate in a fatherhood program
  • Some topics covered in workshops might be less relevant to young fathers
  • Young fathers might be particularly hesitant to open up during workshop sessions because of peer norms and experiences in “classroom” settings

We also summarize several strategies that programs have used to overcome these common challenges when working with young fathers.

Recruitment strategies include:

  • Embed program staff in the community and recruit from places that young people frequent
  • Use a range of recruitment sources and communication methods
  • Engage past participants or program ambassadors in the recruitment process
  • Tailor the recruitment message to appeal to what young fathers need most, but do not overpromise what the program can offer

Engagement strategies include:

  • Create a comfortable, inviting program culture that encourages young fathers’ contributions regardless of their stage in life
  • Encourage fathers to keep notes so they can reference information in the future when it becomes more relevant
  • Enlist older men in the groups to act as mentors
  • Modify existing services to accommodate young fathers to more directly respond to common needs.

The literature we reviewed and the data we collected suggest that involving young fathers in RF services is an opportunity for prevention by providing them with needed knowledge and skills to thrive. The young fathers we spoke with highlighted the benefits they received from their participation in the program and believed that other young fathers would similarly benefit.

Methods

For this study we used a mixed-methods approach. We examined the characteristics of young and older fathers currently enrolled in RF programs using data collected via the Information, Family Outcomes, Reporting, and Management system (nFORM). We also reviewed two decades of literature on serving young fathers in RF and similar programs. Finally, we collected qualitative data from two RF grant recipients. This involved conducting interviews with various program staff and focus groups with young fathers to learn more about their experiences and inform our recommendations for serving this population.

Citation

Hennigar, A. Avellar, S., Espinoza, A., and Friend, D. (2023). Serving young fathers in Responsible Fatherhood programs. OPRE Report 2023-279. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.