Bay Area Fatherhood Initiatives: Portraits
and Possibilities, Vivian L. Gadsden,
R. Karl Rethemeyer, March 2001.
|
Download Executive Summary (PDF format -- 26 pgs.) |
|
Download full report- Part I
(PDF format -- 62 pgs.) Download full report- Part II (PDF format -- 77 pgs.) |
Introduction
In the past decade the nature of fathers' involvement with their children and families has become an important topic of examination. Government agencies and non-profit groups have begun to develop or support programs that help men manage the challenges of fatherhood and become more involved with their children. This report--Bay Area Fathering Initiatives: Portraits and Possibilities--presents the first set of findings from the Bay Area Fathering Integrated Data System (BAyFIDS) Project. The report is intended to supplement current and emerging efforts to catalogue the numbers of programs that have been created, to assess the policies that have been re-examined and reformulated, and to redirect the attention that fathering has received by the research community and the general public.
The BAyFIDS Project is an attempt to track, document, and analyze the operation and impact of fathering programs, as well as the nature of local and county policy efforts around fatherhood in one region of the country--the nine counties comprising the San Francisco Bay area.
The purpose of this first part of the BAyFIDS Project was to develop
baseline data on participant needs, program capabilities, and agency efforts.
It also sought to highlight the attitudes and values held by program participants,
program staff, and government agencies regarding the challenges of supporting
men in their roles as fathers, reducing father absence, and enhancing
the welfare of children and families when fathers and their families face
hardships.
The profiles of fathers and fatherhood initiatives that emerged from the BAyFIDS Project underscore the diversity inherent among fathers and in fathering itself—notions that are often construed as having a singular definition for a singular type of father. Our conversations with programs and participants in the San Francisco Bay Area indicated the range of experiences and needs that fathers exhibit: their differences in life experiences, ages, culture, and personal histories, as well as the different lenses through which each views the world.
Background
To understand the structure and operation of fathering programs at the county level and to determine the degree of county agency involvement in programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, NCOFF launched the BAyFIDS project, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and assistance by SRI International and the University of California-Berkeley.
Our prior work with programs throughout the country and our conversations with practitioners and policymakers in local areas had led us to believe that, as with many new efforts, fatherhood programs were still poorly defined and their goals still in a state of flux. As we considered how to construct the BAyFIDS project, we were aware of two realities:
- There is little information about the number or quality of existing
programs or the needs and aspirations of program participants.
- There is still relatively little knowledge among policymakers, social services, and educational agencies about existing programs.
|
For too long, references to "families" meant "mothers." The result? Fathers receded into the background—in their importance to the child and his or her mother, except as a source of financial support. To correct this imbalance… [we must] reach schools and community-based organizations and…raise their awareness of the barriers they place in the way of father involvement.
--Stanley Seiderman, San Anselmo Preschool
Center
|
Why Focus on the San Francisco Bay Area? California and the Bay Area present unique features that make this region an appropriate focus of our study on fathers and families programs and their relationships to county fatherhood initiatives. Like most states, California divides responsibility for child support and services to fathers between a variety of state departments, county offices, and local agencies. The rise in the number of nonwhite citizens and those emigrating from outside the United Statesócoupled with growing income inequality and relative uncertainty about sectors of the stateís economyómake the Bay Area a compelling case to compare with other regions in the nation, particularly those with large urban and metropolitan areas.
Why Focus on County Programs and Policies? Although most states (California included) delegate responsibility for child welfare, family support, and child support collections to local and county government, very little is known about how these agencies seek to support fathers. Instead, policy conversations usually occur at the state and national levels and research efforts tend to focus on state and federal policy. Even less is known about how public and private efforts are coordinated with one another, if at all. Because policy and implementation varies from county to county, the nature of public-private coordination will also vary by county. Thus, we felt it important to study county systems as a whole.
The images, logos and text on these pages are the property
of NCOFF.
Copyright reserved.
Updated:
May 21, 2003 05:26 pm