Program Goals

The goals of Dads Matter^HV are:

For fathers:

• Reduce risk of physically abusing and/or neglecting the target child
• Optimize their positive engagement in home visiting services
• Optimize their positive roles in the family
• Improve working relationship with home visitor
• Improve the co-parenting relationship with the mother of the child
• Increase positive involvement with target child

For mothers:

• Reduce risk of physically abusing and/or neglecting the target child
• Improve the co-parenting relationship with the father of the child

Logic Model

The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for Dads MatterHV.

Essential Components

The essential components of Dads Matter^HV include:

• Delivery specifics:
• From a whole family perspective
• Focuses on supporting the co-parenting team on behalf of the young child, regardless of the nature and quality of the mother-father relationship:
• Serves both biological mother and biological father
• Delivered in the context of the larger family constellation
• Father, like mother and their children, viewed as central to services, and not treated as add-ons
• Approaches father from a strengths perspective and engages him where he is at
• Works to optimize father’s role in the mother-father co-parenting team, and father’s role with their children as core overall program aims
• Begins at the point of home visiting service initiation and works with dads once the baby is born
• Services concentrated during the first four to six months of service
• Integrates Dads Matter^HV strategies with, and do not replace, existing home visiting curricula and activities
• Early and continuous father engagement efforts which are central to the delivery of services
• Flexibly delivered individually or conjointly in-person, over the phone, Zoom, and/or text
• Worker specifics:
• Conducts a comprehensive assessment of the father’s role in the life of child and mother, which directs their use of the intervention modules
• Works with both mothers and fathers to identify shared goals and expectations in their parenting their young child
• Works to strengthen goal setting, communication, and problem-solving skills between mothers and fathers
• Addresses stress, emotion management, and help-seeking in ways that support co-parenting, as well as fathers’ engagement in services and involvement with their child(ren)
• Completes Dads Matter Service Logs to track and ensures consistent application of the intervention principles with fidelity to the model
• Organization specifics:
• Must be supportive and ready to implement father inclusive processes and culture; home visitors and their supervisors are particularly key to its successful implementation

Program Delivery

Parent/Caregiver Services

Dads MatterHV directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

• Families at risk of physically abusing and/or neglecting their infant child

Services Involve Family/Support Structures:

This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: Other family members or support systems can be engaged, as appropriate, to support and strengthen fathers’ roles and/or the co-parenting relationship.

Recommended Intensity:

Generally, 60 to 90 minutes per weekly or monthly session depending on the home visiting program model as well as need, delivery date, and/or child’s age. Designed to fit within the existing program services to supplement the ongoing activities, and can be delivered flexibly or included/implemented flexibly within the home visiitng model being implemented.

Recommended Duration:

4 to 6 months, starting at the onset of home visiting services

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Birth Family Home
• Virtual (Online, Telephone, Video, Zoom, etc.)

Homework

Dads MatterHV includes a homework component:

Some modules include brief activities for the co-parent team to review outside of the home visit.

Languages

Dads MatterHV has materials available in a language other than English:

Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, 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:

Dads Matter^HV services occur during typical home visits and require printed documents to provide as handouts to parents.

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Dads Matter^HV does not designate minimum provider qualifications and is designed to be utilized by home visitors meeting their organization’s qualifications. The manual and training were designed to be understandable by workers with different training and backgrounds including both professionals and paraprofessionals.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual Details:

• Bellamy, J. L., Banman, A., & Guterman, N. B. (2021). Dads Matter-HV: Manual for home visitors. Dads Matter-HV.

To become a certified provider of Dads Matter^HV, please contact the Dads Matter^HV team at dadsmatterllc@gmail.com for information about training, consultation, and certification.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Dads Matter, LLC
  dadsmatterllc@gmail.com
  phone: (212) 998-4225

Training Type/Location:

Training is provided online or in-person at the purchasing organization/site’s location or virtually.

Number of days/hours:

The full training in Dads Matter^HV includes: an introductory training, consultation calls, and a booster session for a total of 18 hours of training. Provider and supervisor training duration is the same.

• The introductory training can be provided online in two half-day sessions or in-person in one full day. After the introductory training, home visitors are instructed to begin using content.
• 6 months of one-hour consultation calls provided by telephone or virtually are provided to support implementation through module review and case consultation.
• A half-day booster training, provided either in person or virtually, completes the training.

Implementation materials including pre-implementation resources, implementation support, and fidelity measures are also provided. Reach out to training contact above for more information.

Implementation Information

Pre-Implementation Materials

There are pre-implementation materials to measure organizational or provider readiness for Dads MatterHV as listed below:

As part of the initial training, organizations complete questionnaires that will assist the trainers as well as the attendees in understanding their organizational readiness to serve fathers and tailor training.

Formal Support for Implementation

There is formal support available for implementation of Dads MatterHV as listed below:

Based on request, formal support for implementation can be utilized through an agreement, including, for example, but not limited to:

• Immediate help/assistance via phone/email request
• Monthly check-in calls during the initial 6 months of implementation
• A half-day (4-hour) booster training after 6 months of implementation

Fidelity Measures

There are fidelity measures for Dads MatterHV as listed below:

The Dads Matter^HV Service Log tracks delivery of intervention content to fathers and mothers. The log is completed by home visitors after each home visit or interaction with parents (e.g., telephone call) and can be used in association with implementation of the model or in ongoing/typical home visiting work. The log is also used to guide training including consultation calls and booster training options to assess implementation.

Implementation Guides or Manuals

There are implementation guides or manuals for Dads MatterHV as listed below:

Guidance for implementing the Dads Matter^HV program is woven throughout the manual, starting with the introduction and continuing across four additional sections and related modules. The introductory section of the manual provides implementation guidance for home visitors, focusing on strategies to engage fathers in home visitation with a co-parenting emphasis. It outlines how the manual, adaptable across various home visiting models, complements existing services without replacing them, focusing on four sections related to:

• Engaging and assessing fathers
• Building co-parenting teams
• Supporting parents in managing parenting challenges
• Supporting father-child interactions and tracking fidelity.

The four sections of the manual are structured into distinct modules, each offering specific strategies, tips, and real-world examples aimed at integrating fathers into home visitation services from the initial intake stage. These modules are designed to facilitate the involvement of fathers in ways that are beneficial for the child and mother, enhancing the father's role in the family. This comprehensive approach ensures that the implementation of the program is grounded in practical and adaptable methodologies, suitable for a variety of program contexts.

Manuals (for purchase) and information about training, consultation, and certification are available by contacting the Program contact listed at the bottom of the website page.

Implementation Cost

There are no studies of the costs of Dads MatterHV.

Research on How to Implement the Program

Research has not been conducted on how to implement Dads MatterHV.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

Child Welfare Outcome: Child/Family Well-Being

Additional References