Mounting research indicates that children benefit from both mothers’ and fathers’ positive parenting, and that mothers and fathers can benefit each other as parents. This presentation and discussion includes lessons learned from two promising programs delivered in the context of home visits. Dads Matter-HV, is a co-parenting enhancement to standard home visiting programs designed to work with mothers and fathers together to strengthen the co-parenting relationship, improve parenting, and reduce maltreatment risk. Filming Interactions to Nurture Development, (FINDF), is a brief home-based program that supports warm and responsive father-child interactions using video recordings to emphasize each fathers’ parenting strengths in the context of everyday caretaking moments.
PowerPoint Slides Available Here
Presentation Recording:
About the Presenters
Jennifer Bellamy PhD University of Denver School of Social Work Professor; Associate Dean, Research
Jennifer Bellamy is the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Professor at the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver. At GSSW she teaches research and theory courses at the master's and doctoral levels. She received her Master's of Science in social work from The University of Texas at Austin in 2000. Before earning her Ph.D. she worked as a crisis counselor and a project coordinator for a multisite demonstration project serving young, unmarried, low-income fathers. Bellamy completed her PhD at the Columbia University School of Social Work in 2006 and postdoctoral training at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in Saint Louis in 2008.
(Fatherhood Research & Practice Network, Learning from the Dads Matter HV Study Jan 2020)
Holly Schindler is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington and a Fellow at Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child.
Her research focuses on three interconnected areasof scholarship. In one line of research, she uses meta-analytic techniques to identify best practices in early childhood education and family support programs. In a second line of research, she investigates the nuances of fathers’ roles in families as a potential vehicle for boosting the impacts of family support programs. As part of this line of work, she was recognized as a Foundation for Child Development Young Scholar for research implementing and evaluating a video coaching program with Mexican American fathers and their young children. Her third line of scholarship focuses on advancing methodological approaches for designing, evaluating, and scaling effective programs and practices. At the national level, she has collaborated with a team of colleagues to define, design, and disseminate tools for a new flexible approach to program development and evaluation within the Frontiers of Innovation network. Locally, she works with Best Starts for Kids Prenatal to Five Innovation Fund, which includes 13 innovation teams who are seeking to implement new or adapted approaches to support the health and well-being of pregnant individuals, children birth to age five and their families, service providers, and communities. Across these areas, Dr. Schindler’s research is driven by a desire to promote equitable systems in support of children and families.
(Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, Earyl Education and Development, Strength-Based Video Coaching)
Guilmar Hernandez, Fatherhood Facilitator/Health Coordinator/ Early Head Start ERSEA Working with Seedlings Head Start (EPIC)
Guilmar is a father of one who brings his lived experiences and professional expertise to the discussion about fatherhood engagement in services. He has lived in four countries: Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and (currently) USA. He currently resides in Yakima, WA and spends his time with his family, enjoying football and the gym.
EPIC is a private, nonprofit organization providing preschool services, working hand-in-hand with children, youth and families to provide services to strengthen communities.