Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children
About This Program
Target Population: Fathers (including biological, step, and common-law) who have who have physically abused, emotionally abused, or neglected their children; exposed their children to domestic violence; or who are deemed to be at high-risk for these behaviors
For parents/caregivers of children ages: 0 – 17
Program Overview
The Caring Dads program combines elements of parenting, fathering, and child protection practice to address the needs of maltreating fathers. Program principles emphasize the need to:
- Enhance men's motivation
- Promote child-centered fathering
- Address men's ability to engage in respectful, non-abusive co-parenting with children's mothers
- Recognize that children's experience of trauma will impact the rate of possible change
- Work collaboratively with other service providers to ensure that children benefit (and are not unintentionally harmed) as a result of father's participation in intervention
The program uses a combination of motivation enhancement, parent education (including skills training and behavioral practice), and cognitive behavioral therapy to:
- Improve men's recognition and prioritization of children's needs
- Improve men's understanding of developmental stages
- Improve men's respect and support for children's relationships with their mothers
- Improve men's listening and using praise
- Improve men's empathy for children's experiences of maltreatment
- Identify and counter the distortions underlying men's past, and potentially ongoing, abuse of their children and/or children's mothers
Program Goals
The goals of the Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children are:
- Ensure the safety and well-being of children who have been impacted by men's abuse or neglect, including domestic violence
- Develop sufficient trust and motivation to engage men in the process of examining their fathering
- Increase men's awareness and application of child-centered fathering
- Eliminate fathers' use of abuse and neglect towards their children and to promote respectful and non-abusive co-parenting with children's mothers
- Promote men's appreciation of the impact of their past abuse on their children and family and help men take responsibility for these behaviors
- Provide supportive outreach to children's mothers to provide information about the program, safety planning, and referral, as necessary
- Work with other professionals to plan for the future safety and well-being of children who have been impacted by abuse, neglect, and/or domestic violence
Logic Model
View the Logic Model for Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children.
Essential Components
The essential components of the Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children program include:
- Fathering group component
- 17 intervention sessions, 15 in group and 2 individual (weeks 10 and 14)
- 8 to 12 fathers recommended group size
- Motivational interviewing is used to engage men in examining their fathering (3 group sessions and an intake interview):
- Examination of their unique experiences as fathers (e.g., historic, cultural differences) and of being fathered to develop discrepancy between their current and desired relationships with their children and families
- Introduction of the idea that their experience of their father included their father's treatment of their mother
- Setting of initial goals for intervention between fathers and group facilitators
- Beginning of homework assignments
- Parenting education, skills training, role modeling, and behavioral practice to develop child-centered fathering (6 group sessions):
- Presentation of the parent to child-centered needs continuum to help monitor and shift behaviors towards those meeting child needs
- Education and application of information on child development and on the impact of abuse, neglect, and trauma on children
- Role modeling and practice in listening to, playing with, and reading to children
- Emphasis placed on the need for respectful co-parenting with children's mothers and for supporting the mother-child relationship
- Cognitive behavioral therapy to set and track individual goals for change among fathers (6 sessions):
- Self-identification of abusive and unhealthy parent-centered behaviors that fathers need to change in order to improve their relationships with their children
- Recognition of the integral connection between the safety and well-being of children and their mothers
- Individual goals set with men in group, or ideally, in individual meetings. Goals target empirically supported risk mechanisms for fathers' maltreatment of their children and/or children's mothers. Such mechanisms include: anger/hostility/overreactivity; family cohesion/coparenting/domestic violence; perceptions of the child as a problem, use of corporal punishment, harsh discipline and other aversive parenting behaviors, overall quality of parent-child relationships, self-centeredness and misuse of substances
- Assignment of individualized homework and fathers' progress is tracked and modified as necessary by the group
- Consolidating learning, setting realistic expectations, and planning for the future (3 sessions):
- Support is given while fathers consider the potentially long-term traumatic impact of their past behavior on their children and/or their children's mothers and in setting reasonable relationship expectations
- Planning for maintenance of gains made
- Support and referral provided for additional services, as necessary
- Associated program components
- Systematic outreach to mothers to ensure safety and freedom from coercion:
- Contact with children's mothers by devoted program staff or by those working in partnership to ensure women are informed about the program
- Collaboration between professionals and with women to anticipate and work to avoid potential unintended negative consequences of men's involvement in intervention
- Provision of referral and of safety planning to children's mothers, as necessary
- Collaborative case management of fathers with referrers and other professionals involved with men's families:
- Clear community-based model for accountability to ensure that child safety and well-being is enhanced as a result of fathers' involvement in intervention
- Open communication between Caring Dads program and other professionals working to ensure the safety and well-being of members of the family
- Joint meetings and planning in response to ongoing or rising risk presented by father
- Commitment to working collaboratively to support children
Program Delivery
Parent/Caregiver Services
Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:
- Verified or suspected concerns about fathers' physical or emotional abuse of their children or of children being exposed to domestic violence perpetrated by their fathers.
Services Involve Family/Support Structures:
This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: The program involves open communication and planning with other professionals involved in the lives of men's children and partners to ensure child safety and well-being. Such partners often include child protective and justice services and sometimes include other social service agencies.
Recommended Intensity:
Two-hour weekly session
Recommended Duration:
17 sessions
Delivery Settings
This program is typically conducted in a(n):
- Outpatient Clinic
- Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
- Public Child Welfare Agency (Dept. of Social Services, etc.)
Homework
Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children includes a homework component:
Fathers receive weekly homework assignments. Assignments prompt fathers to critically consider their fathering, practice new parenting skills, and relate respectively to children's mothers. Individualized cognitive behavioral assignments are also given. Assigned homework is regularly reviewed during group sessions.
Languages
Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children has materials available in languages other than English:
French, German, Swedish
For information on which materials are available in these languages, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).
Resources Needed to Run Program
The typical resources for implementing the program are:
Room suitable for group therapy and equipment for playing videos
Manuals and Training
Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications
No specific formal qualifications needed, though as a group, the co-facilitation team needs training and experience in working with men (particularly men who are resistant to intervention), a firm understanding of the dynamics of abuse against women, knowledge of child development, and experience in cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Manual Information
There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.
Program Manual(s)
Program manual citation:
- Scott, K., Francis, K., Crooks, C., & Kelly, T. (2006). Caring Dads: Helping fathers value their children. Trafford Publishing.
Training Information
There is training available for this program.
Training Contacts:
- Caring Dads
www.caringdads.org - Katreena Scott
katreena.scott@utoronto.ca
phone: (416) 978-0971
Training Type/Location:
Basic training for individual registrants is provided twice a year in London, Ontario. Advanced training is offered once a year in London, Ontario.
Training can also be organized on-site for interested groups.
Number of days/hours:
Basic training: 2 days, 7 hours/day. Advanced training: 2 days, 7 hours/day plus consultation meetings
Additional Resources:
There currently are additional qualified resources for training:
Accredited trainers are profiled on the website:
Accredited trainers are profiled on the website: www.caringdads.org
An online practitioner community is available to facilitators who have been trained to run Caring Dads though the private site link: https://caringdads.org/pro-portal
Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research
Scott, K., Dubov, V., Devine, C., Colquhoun, C., Hoffelner, C., Niki, I., Webb, S. & Goodman, D. (2021). Caring Dads intervention for fathers who have perpetrated abuse within their families: Quasi-experimental evaluation of child protection outcomes over two years. Child Abuse & Neglect, 120, Article 105204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105204
Type of Study:
Pretest–posttest study with a nonequivalent control group (Quasi-experimental)
Number of Participants:
185
Population:
- Age — Mean=35.8–37.9 years
- Race/Ethnicity — 58 White, 52 Asian, 38 Black, and15 Other
- Gender — 100 Male
- Status — Participants were from a large child protection agency in a Canadian urban center
Location/Institution: Caring Dads at the Children's Aid Society of Toronto
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to examine whether providing a group-based intervention program for fathers, Caring Dads, was associated with greater engagement of fathers in child protection case management and with lower rates of subsequent father-perpetrated abuse. Participants were families in which fathers were referred to Caring Dads and either completed the group or remained on a waitlist for future service. Measures utilized include administrative case data from the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto and the Family and Child Strengths and Needs Assessment. Results indicate that initial comparisons found no significant differences in intervention and comparison group fathers in demographic characteristics, child protection concerns, and all but one area of risk and needs. Completing intervention, as compared to being waitlisted, was associated with a greater number of contacts between child protection workers and fathers over two years, a difference that was significant and large in size and with lower rates of verified re-referral due to fathers' maltreatment. This difference was significant and between small and medium in size. Limitations include men involved in the intervention were nested within eight separate Caring Dads groups and there may be within group-effects that, given the lack of any group-level data beyond number of participants, were not examined; data were not collected on implementation fidelity; it was just not possible to specify whether or how much ongoing contact there was between fathers and children; and the research relied on official reports as an indicator of ongoing abuse, which is an underestimate of the maltreatment children are experiencing.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
The following studies were not included in rating Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children on the Scientific Rating Scale...
Scott, K. L. & Crooks, C. V. (2007). Preliminary evaluation of an intervention program for maltreating fathers. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 7(3), 224–238. https://doi.org/10.1093/brief-treatment/mhm007
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the 17-session Caring Dads intervention for abusive fathers. Measures utilized include the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP), Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2), and the Parenting Stress Index and Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI/PSI-SF). Results indicate that fathers’ level of hostility, denigration, and rejection of their child and their level of angry arousal to child and family situations decreased significantly over the course of intervention. Moreover, men’s level of stress decreased in all domains, though these reductions failed to reach significant levels. Participants showed significant improvement as a result of the intervention, with larger effects in the Hostile and Controlling subgroup. Limitations include the small sample size and the use of self-report, retrospective data. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.
Scott, K. L., & Lishak, V. (2012). Intervention for maltreating fathers: Statistically and clinically significant change. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36(9), 680–684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.06.003
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the Caring Dads intervention for abusive fathers. Measures utilized include the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), Parenting Scale (PS), and the Parenting Alliance Measure (PAM). Results indicate that fathers’ over-reactivity to children’s misbehavior and respect for their partner’s commitment and judgment improved substantially over treatment. Changes in other domains were also evident though of lesser magnitude. Limitations include the reliance on self-report and on retrospective data, as well as the lack of a control group. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.
Hine, L., Meyer, S., McDermott, L., & Eggins, E. (2022). Intervention programme for fathers who use domestic and family violence: Results from an evaluation of Caring Dads. Child & Family Social Work, 27(4), 711–724. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12919
The purpose of the study was to present findings from an evaluation of a trial of the Caring Dads programme in an Australian jurisdiction. Measures utilized include the Safety and Freedom from Violence and Abuse for Women and Children, the Kessler10 Psychological Distress Scale (K10), and the Parenting Problems Checklist. Results indicate overall positive outcomes for mother experiences of violence, psychological well-being and safety, along with fathers increased awareness and understanding of what constitutes abusive behavior. Limitations include lack of a control group, small sample size and attrition. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.
Gatfield, E., O’Leary, P., Tsantefski, M., Meyer, S., & Baird, K. (2024). Differential intervention outcomes among fathers who commit domestic and family violence: The influence of parental relationship status. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-024-00687-y
The purpose of the study was to investigate whether participating fathers in the Caring Dads program improved their co-parenting interactions, family functioning and wellbeing, and considered father characteristics and relationship statuses that coincided with positive outcomes. Measures utilized include the Family Assessment Measure III General Scale, the Co-parenting Relationship Scales, the Parent Problem Checklist, the Parenting Scale (PS), the Parenting Perceptions Scale, and the Parenting Relationship Perception Scale. Results indicate that all fathers experienced improvements in parenting and family functioning by post-intervention, with greatest improvements for partnered fathers’ families. Partnered fathers also experienced improved parental alliance, unlike most separated fathers. Limitations include lack of control group, small sample size and attrition. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.
Additional References
Crooks, C. V., Scott, K. L., Francis, K., Kelly, T., & Reid, M. (2006). Eliciting change in maltreating fathers: Goals, processes, and desired outcomes. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 13(1), 71-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2004.10.002
Scott, K. L. (2004). Pilot implementation of the Caring Dads program. Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children.
Scott, K. L. & Crooks, C. V. (2004). Effecting change in maltreating fathers. Clinical Psychology: Science & Practice, 11, 95-111. *see also associated commentaries
Contact Information
- Katreena Scott, PhD
- Agency/Affiliation: University of Toronto, Canada
- Website: www.caringdads.org
- Email: katreena.scott@utoronto.ca
- Phone: (416) 978-0971
- Fax: (416) 926-4708
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: September 2024
Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: April 2016
Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: March 2011
