Strengthening the Implementation of Responsible Fatherhood Programs (SIRF) Nomination Process

Publication Date: August 12, 2020
Current as of:
Cover page for the SIRF Nomination Form document

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  • Published: 2020

Introduction

Banner for the SIRF Nomination ProcessThe Strengthening the Implementation of Responsible Fatherhood Programs (SIRF) project will work closely with programs to identify and overcome the challenges they face, such as recruiting fathers, enrolling them in services, and keeping them actively engaged in services so they can realize their goals.

Purpose

This document encourages nominations or self-nominations for a federal evaluation called SIRF. SIRF is looking to partner with fatherhood programs, whether or not an organization’s program becomes a Family-focused, Interconnected, Resilient, and Essential (Fatherhood FIRE) ACF grantee. This document describes the benefits of participating in SIRF, the steps in the selection process and includes instructions for submitting a nomination. This document also identifies the topics of interest that will be useful for the SIRF team to know about nominated organizations.

Key Findings and Highlights

The nomination process will support SIRF’s efforts to identify program partners. The project more broadly intends to produce usable, broadly applicable lessons to inform emerging best practices in recruiting, engaging, and retaining fatherhood participants, as well as methods for implementing “rapid cycle evaluations” within fatherhood programs.

Methods

This document includes directions for how to submit a nomination. SIRF, in partnership with selected programs, will identify and help implement possible solutions to fatherhood programs’ recruitment, enrollment and engagement challenges, examine those effects on the program, and make adjustments when needed. SIRF will offer guidance on how to use organizational program data to quickly assess if program strategies are working and troubleshoot when they are not. The processes and adjustments are examples of rapid learning methods and are sometimes called “rapid cycle evaluations” or “learning cycles” and can be repeated as required over the course of the project, depending on the intensity and scope of changes.