September Newsletter from the Fatherhood Institute

FI Newsletter September 2015

FRED campaign goes from strength to strength After a summer of successful fundraising and marketing, we are getting ready to roll out Fathers Reading Every Day - the UK's only dad-focused reading programme - to schools in more than five local authorities across England. We will be giving 3,000 FRED families free copies of our forthcoming Read Said Fred anthology, featuring selected stories from many of the UK's favourite authors, including Julia Donaldson and Michael Rosen. We are also looking for more local authorities and clusters of schools and/or early years settings to train as FRED providers. For more details, please contact Charlie Rice now. Health visiting with dad works better Health visiting services are usually designed, delivered and evaluated with mothers in mind, and cast fathers as, at best, an optional extra. But evidence is mounting that such services can be made much more effective by adapting them to improve engagement with fathers. A US conference in November is set to hear about a Chicago-based pilot study and randomised controlled trial of a father-inclusive health visitor service working with mainly low-income African American and Latino families. The results suggest promising outcomes - including better relationships between parents, lower stress, greater father-involvement, and less child maltreatment. For evidence-based tips on father-inclusive health visiting, download our Engaging Fathers guide, produced for the Institute of Health Visiting. And for more details about our one-day father-inclusive health visiting course, click here. Dads wanted for survey on UK family life Children and families charity 4Children is looking for dads to contribute to Thriving or Surviving, a nationwide survey about British family life. If you're a dad, or work with dads who might be able to spare 10 minutes to fill it in, here's the link. Co-parenting classes improve birth outcomes New research has shown that Family Foundations - the brief series of classes for first-time parents offered in the UK by the Fatherhood Institute - improves birth outcomes as well as easing the transition to parenthood. In the study, 399 couples were assigned randomly to either the 9-session Family Foundations programme, or a control group (these couples were sent relevant literature by post). Researchers found that for mothers who had moderate to high levels of financial stress, depression or anxiety, participation in the programme was linked to more optimal birth weight and/or shorter hospital stays after birth. In separate work, the researchers have estimated that $1 spent implementing the Family Foundations program saves society at least $3 to $5 in costs due to mental health and behavioural problems. Find out more about Family Foundations. Researchers look for first-time dads A team from Manchester and Lancaster universities is looking for first-time dads who are taking or considering taking shared parental leave, to take part in research interviews. Dads who take part will receive gift tokens. Find out more and get in touch with the researchers via their website. Friend on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend Young dad or about to become one? Would you like to help others understand more about what it feels like to become a young parent? A leading independent production company are making a documentary about what it’s like to be a teen parent, explained by the people who really know - young parents themselves. If you are in your teens and would like to share your experience of becoming a young dad, email Oxford Scientific Films or call them on 07596 429312. Young dads conference There are still places available at the Seeing young fathers in a different way conference in Leeds on 30 September. The event will include a keynote address by Alison Hadley, director of the Teenage Pregnancy Knowledge Exchange, and findings fromthe ESRC-funded Following Young Fathers study (2012-2015). Find out more. Parental leave: a Swedish dad's story What happens when men take lengthy, well-paid time off after becoming a father? Check out this article by a Swedish dad, who reckons his nine-month parental leave didn't just help his relationship with his son, but gave him lots of ideas for how to make his business better. Dads stepping up to be the 'lead parent' What's the difference between being an involved dad, and being a 'lead parent'? And how can we change our culture to welcome more dads into this role? Check out this thoughtful article by the husband of Anne-Marie Slaughter, who famously gave up her high profile role in the US State Department, claiming it's not possible for women to 'have it all'.

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