ABSTRACT
Efforts to increase the quality of fathers’ engagement with their children have been at the center of discussions on fathers and families over the past decade. This emphasis is evident in both the numbers of basic and policy studies conducted and the emergence of preventive and intervention programs designed to (re)engage fathers with their children and families. Such programs are estimated to exceed more than 1,000 nationally and are located in a vast range of settings: from small local enclaves in rural and urban settings, to larger community-based organizations, to federal and state programs such as Head Start. They focus disproportionately on the needs of low-income, noncustodial, nonresidential fathers. Until recently, however, the availability of measures of father engagement and indicators of father involvement has been limited. The lack of rigorous research tools in this area is particularly noteworthy given the growing number of programs that serve fathers and the expectation that these programs, along with increased public awareness of the importance of responsible fathering, will reduce father absence, increase father involvement, and improve the lives of children.
