Partnering with Fathers

June has many meanings to people: graduations, weddings and anniversaries, birthdays, and Father’s Day. I was able to celebrate several of those events. The most memorable and impactful was my youngest daughter’s high school graduation. This was an extremely proud moment for me as my daughter took that next step toward adulthood. As she sat with her classmates and later walked across the stage, I was flooded with all the memories of her birth and growth over the last 18 years. While I was reflecting on the things I did well and the things I did not, I couldn’t help thinking about the parents who never had the opportunity to play a role in their child’s life. It got me thinking about the word support, and how it can mean so many things, like being present in your child’s life — for the big moments, as well as the everyday. Or it can refer to providing financially, caring for your child’s health, or being the role model they deserve.

All of this interests us here at OCSE because, to accomplish our mission, parents have to understand how much of an impact they have on their children’s lives. Likewise, we in the child support community must keep learning about the different and evolving needs of the parent populations we serve so we can provide them with the best service. To make parents equal partners in our mission, we must consider their whole experience as customers, family members, and members of their community.

For many of the fathers in our caseload, child support agencies can solidify this partnership by offering essential resources through innovative outreach programs. As you’ll read about in Tatyana Phelps’ article on p. 3 of the June 2018 Child Support Report (CSR), celebratory events and virtual customer service are just a couple of ways to engage with fathers and build trust. The Georgia Division of Child Support Services shows that they value the vital role fathers have in their children’s lives and, as a result, they’re seeing increased turnout in their child support- specific outreach events.

Child support professionals have the opportunity to work with engaged fathers from diverse backgrounds. And we appreciate how important parenting is to so many fathers. So it shouldn’t surprise us that, according to a Pew study, more fathers are involved in caring for their children than ever before. Taking time to learn about the parenting trends associated with fathers generally, as well as those in our diverse caseload, can only help us in designing better services. For some suggestions on effective outreach to Hispanic dads, check out the article on p. 4 of the CSR  by Mindy Scott and her fellow researchers at the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families.

Thanks to the active interest of the research community and offices at the federal level, we’re sure to keep seeing improved services for fathers. To start, we have the employment-related grant programs mentioned in Angela Blat’s article on p. 7 of the CSR, along with federal partner grants, like the responsible fatherhood programs James Murray discusses on p. 2. We also know that fathers can support their child’s well-being in many ways including decreasing the child’s risk for obesity through play! It’s incredible to think of the effect we can have on our children.

Collaborative efforts across multiple programs within the Administration for Children and Families are making it easier for fathers to find the support they need to play a positive role in their children’s lives. Together, we’ve come up with solutions that work to both the father’s and the child’s benefit. Some of the solutions build off of research about parental involvement and have practical applications in things like referrals to co-parenting programs. Others focus on fulfilling the child support program’s core mission and enable fathers to address financial concerns, for example, with modifying an order or connecting to employment services. We as the child support community play an important role in helping families. I’m encouraged by the innovative work we’re doing to really look at the roles parents have in their children’s lives.