The Texas Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) team committed to engaging fathers in the home visiting programming based on research that supports father involvement for positive child outcomes.
The Texas Home Visiting (THV) program partnered with the University of Texas at Austin – Children and Family Research Partnership (CFRP) to conduct focus groups with fathers to identify programmatic strategies and attitudes. The Involving Fathers in Home Visiting Programs: Lessons from Fathers report summarizes recommendations for bolstering father engagement. These recommendations come from fathers. Texas is the only state to use MIECHV funding to evaluate father participation in home visiting programs.
The focus group study resulted in a collection of feedback on attitudes that fathers participating in the program held towards THV. The findings include: 1. Fathers love their children and desire to be good fathers. 2. Fathers value the services provided by the programs. 3. Fathers believe that services are geared towards mothers. 4. Fathers expressed the desire for a father advocate and a group for dads. 5. Fathers desired parenting resources and other wrap-around services. View the full report, presentation materials and updates since May 2014.
On February 3, 2016, the Child and Family Research Partnership (CFRP) at The University of Texas at Austins LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Texas DFPS Prevention and Early Intervention division hosted the Texas Fatherhood Summit: Building the Evidence Base for Fatherhood Programs in Austin, Texas. The Summit brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the field of fatherhood to exchange ideas and assess the state of fatherhood programs throughout the country. In preparation for the Summit, the CFRP prepared a report, Making Good on Fatherhood: a Review of the Fatherhood Research, (January 2016).
Updated February 2016.
