According to the Institute, many public services unwittingly create an environment that pushes fathers away and discourages their involvement.
The Dad Test allows service providers to self-assess how effectively they interact and support fathers. The test is broken down into six parts:
- Leadership - ensuring senior managers are confident in their knowledge of why fatherchild relationships are important
- Team - the importance of staff interacting well with fathers to encourage use of services
- Environment - how a service's physical environment affects whether a father will feel comfortable in getting involved
- Marketing and communication - communicating pro-actively with fathers can show that mainstream services are for them as well as mothers
- Recruiting fathers - recruiting pro-actively and routinely
- Monitoring and evaluation - vital to assessing what works and what does not work.
As part of the Dad Test, there is also a logbook that identifies in detail what services need to do to become father-inclusive and to record progress.
Both have been produced as part of the Fatherhood Institute's Think Fathers campaign, which is backed by the DCSF.
David Bartlett, deputy chief executive of the Fatherhood Institute, said, 'We're looking for services that are leading the way and committed to championing father-inclusive services.
'Ultimately, we want to see all local authorities develop workforce strategies that mean all staff are recruited and trained to have the core skills necessary to support father-child relationships. We want to see the Dad Test embedded in good practice in all public services across the country.'
The Fatherhood Institute is also launching a comprehensive support package designed for all children's, family and health services. It will work in partnership with the Think Fathers Champions aspect of the campaign, which encourages individuals and agencies to push for change.
Further information
Visit: www.fatherhoodinstitute.org.