ABSTRACT
This chapter is dedicated to the essential and often invisible topic of intentionally planning for and centering fathers and father figures in early childhood programs and services. The chapter opens by describing a father support group led by a dad who is working with the diverse fathers in his community to value their roles and needs as fathers, to have opportunities to explore their thoughts, feelings and ideas about being dads with one another and to provide support to one another. Readers learn about the curriculum in this father support group—sponsored by a Child Care Resource and Referral Agency—and a rich vignette provides a window into the power and benefits that father-friendly programming offers in the early childhood years. The chapter then introduces another example of a program dedicated to centering the voices of fathers and father figures, The Alameda County Fathers Corps, a cross-sector collaborative formed to support fathers to be meaningfully engaged with their children and to advocate for father-friendly programs and services. The Fathers Corps started in response to educational resources and services that are typically approached from a maternal perspective with the consequence that the needs and roles of fathers are often left out of programs and service delivery models for children and families. Because fathers are not intentionally thought about and planned for, many providers and agencies do not have the skills, knowledge and representation they need to effectively meet the evolving and diverse needs of fathers. To address these gaps and to support individuals and groups to intentionally plan for, and incorporate, fathers’ needs into their programs and services, Father Corps developed several tools that are introduced in the chapter that early childhood professionals can use to strengthen their Father Engagement Practices. These resources and tools include Father-Friendly Principles, an Organizational Self-Assessment of Father-Friendly Service, a Father-Friendly Principles Implementation Tool and The Diversity of Fathers Photo Bank.
