Strengthening Families and Fatherhood

The Office of Head Start funded an Innovations and Improvement Projects grant in 2005 to strengthen and support low-income families in Missouri with children whose fathers are incarcerated or on probation or parole. The project is called Fathers for Life.

Project goals
• Increase parenting education and support for fathers
• Increase fathers' access to employment and job training opportunities
• Improve the relationships between mothers and fathers of young children
• Improve training for professionals who work with families

One objective calls for broad dissemination of the Focus on Fathers facilitated group meeting curriculum designed for use in this project. Read more about the curriculum on the next page.

Focus on Fathers

Focus on Fathers is a facilitated group meeting curriculum designed for dads. While the Fathers for Life project, for which the curriculum was created, is designed for families whose fathers are incarcerated or on probation or parole, the Focus on Fathers curriculum is designed to be used with all fathers.

The curriculum contains 12 facilitated group meeting plans on the following topics:
• Child Development
• Choosing Child Care
• Connecting with Your Child
• Discipline
• Healthy Relationships for Me and My Child
• Helping Your Child Deal with Feelings
• Parenting Apart
• Places to Go
• Reading with Your Child
• Self-Esteem
• Siblings and Friends
• Ways to Play

These group meeting plans contain educator resources and specially designed handouts for fathers. The information can be used outside of the group meeting format, such as in newsletters, personal visits and other activities.

This curriculum is being offered to early childhood and parent education professionals at no cost to them or their programs. The intent is to disseminate the curriculum as broadly as possible.

To download the curriculum, complete a Contact Information Form. Several fields are required, including your email address. If you don’t have an email address, visit one of the many free email services like Gmail.

Your e-mail address will be used to send the link containing the curriculum in PDF format. We will also use your e-mail address to send you a Follow-Up web survey in 4–6 months to hear your opinion of the curriculum.

To continue to the contact information form, click here.

To download the Literature and Materials Resource List, click here.