Childcare practitioners are increasingly keen to encourage fathers to be more involved, be it in nurseries, Sure Starts or family centres. The reasons are not just sentiment or political correctness.
Fatherss have much more responsibility for children's care than ever before. Indeed, they now do one third of parental childcare in dual earner families, according to research published by the Equal Opportunities Commission.
The active involvement of fathers, and father-figures, can also make a big difference to child development. Pre-schoolers typically have better social skills, according to Charlie Lewis, professor of developmental psychology at Lancaster University. Early father involvement, he concludes, also has pay-offs in terms of children's educational achievement, better long-term mental health and a reduced likelihood that a young person will get into trouble with the police.
Support from practitioners can do a lot for a dad's skills. Men are not prepared for parenthood as well as women. There is a dearth of information targeted at them. Given the high levels of family breakdown - especially in the years after the birth of children - there are particular problems for separated fathers who may be unable to fall back for advice on their traditional mentors, the mothers of their children. Yet the continued involvement of these men in their children's lives is often vital to children surviving relationship breakdown. In short, professionals can be a lifeline for men who may be in sole charge of their children for extended periods, but lack the usual supports.
It is not always easy to engage fathers. Often childcare facilities employ only women and staff may not feel confident about what to do. Fathers may stand back, feeling that such a setting is not a place for them. Or they might be busy during the normal working hours of a nursery - despite evidence of increased father involvement, men also increase their hours of work after the birth of a child.
Fathers Direct, the national information centre on fatherhood, has just published (April 2004) 'Working With Fathers', a guide for all practitioners in family and community services.
It emphasises the need for teams to take time to examine attitudes - and perhaps prejudices - that they may have about fathers, and to understand what benefits dads can offer their children. It is also essential to agree ways of obtaining information about fathers without putting off (or putting at risk) other family members.
Workers wishing to extend services to fathers do not necessarily have to be male. Some of the most successful services aimed exclusively at fathers have been set up and run by women. Indeed, some fathers feel more comfortable with a female worker. However, it is usually helpful to have men on the staff. Typically, fathers feel more comfortable attending a service where at least one member is male. In the long run, agencies with no competent male workers find it harder, though by no means impossible, to engage and support local dads effectively.
The most obvious way to make a setting father-friendly is to display positive images of dads. However, this can be upsetting for those who may have seen the space as safely 'man-free' or who have had negative experiences with men.
There may be concern among staff members or mothers that children without dads will feel excluded. You can point out that not seeing a father doesn't stop a child wondering about or 'loving' him - seeing images may help children express their confusion about their relationship with their own father. It is vital, however, to have these discussions with staff and users before putting up new images.
It is useful having a 'starter day' highlighting the father-friendly initiative. It might involve a barbeque, a dads' breakfast, an open day, a Fathers' Day celebration or a 'bring your dad to nursery' day. Such events can allow fathers to acclimatise to the idea of involvement, without having to make an early commitment.
Most centres find that events for dads and children work best. It is best to invite them directly, by personally addressed letter, phone or in person. Be persistent and positive. Record the men's names and contact details systematically so you don't lose them, and invite them back for other events, having identified their needs and catered for them. It's good to take photographs and then offer them to the fathers, or put them around your premises.
Bringing dads in is a sensitive process. If you frame your service as 'helping' him or suggest that he has a problem, you may lose him. Better to present what you are doing as a benefit to his children and as 'information' rather than 'support'. It can take a lot of professionalism and commitment to get the process of institutional change right. Don't give up if it doesn't work first time. Don't blame the client. Do ask for help