Articles

Educational and Social Marketing Tools

By: John Hoffman

Looking for educational or social marketing tools for working with fathers or promoting father involvement? Here is information about resources developed in Canada or in use by Canadian organizations working with fathers which are available to other organzations either through purchase of materials or training opportunities.

Print Materials

BC Council For Families

British Columbia's hub for information and resources for and about families, has introduced the Fatherhood Series six new brochures for fathers.

Dads and Babies: Connecting with your infant
Dads and Toddlers: Connecting with your toddler
Dads and Teens: Connecting with your teenager.
Dads Away from Home. Keeping the connection when work takes dad away.
Rookie Dad. Ten things every new mom should know.
Rookie Moms. Ten things every new dad should know.

Brochure: Teen Dads. Your baby needs you.

Father Involvement Initiative - Ontario Network (FII-ON)

Father Involvement Initiative - Ontario Network (FII-ON) Booklets www.cfii.ca/fiion/books.htm

Involved Fathers. A Guide for Today's Dad.
Full-time Dad. Part-time Kids. A guide for recently divorced and separated fathers.
Daddy Come Play With Me. A father's guide to play with young children.
Kids We Can Count On. A father's guide to building character in children.
One Step at a Time. A guide for fathers living in blended families.
Daddy I Need You. A father's guide to early childhood brain development.

FII-ON Posters www.cfii.ca/fiion/posters.htm
Five colour posters promoting father involvement.

First Nations Poster Series www.cfii.ca/fiion/firstnationsposters.htm
Similar poster series adapted for Aboriginal families.

All FII-ON materials are available in English and French language versions.

Other Print Resources

Dads Make a Difference

http://prevent.sasktelwebhosting.com/NobodysResourcesDescrip.php - poster and 30- page booklet from Saskatchewan Institute on Prevention of Handicaps (included in list of Nobody's Perfect resources)

Hands-On Dad - 40-page booklet for new fathers was written for the Psychology Foundation of Canada's Parenting For Life series. Hands-On Dad was originally written in the late 1990s and was out of print for several years, however it was updated in 2008 and is availabe for order or download from the website of the Psychology Foundation. For more information click here.

 

DVD and Video

Believe in me!/Je suis là!

Believe in me!/Je suis là! is the first Canadian film to provide a window into the minds of teenaged and youthful fathers. The 26-minute documentary presents interviews with some of the young fathers and community professionals who were partners in FIRA's Young Fathers Cluster, led by Annie Devault, professor of social work at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. Click here to read a detailed review of the video.


Produced by Artesian Films and the Young Fathers Cluster of the Father Involvement Research Alliance.

Limited single copies are available from the organizations listed below for a nominal fee of $10.00 to cover shipping and handling.

Father Involvement Initiative - Ontario Network www.cfii.ca/fiion/ (click on Materials from a drop-down menu under resources)

Vanier Institute of the Family -
By email: llegault@vifamily.ca;
Fax: 613-228-8007;
Mail: The Vanier Institute of the Family, 94 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa,
ON K2G 6B1.

Father Involvement Research Alliance www.fira.uoguelph.ca

 

Fatherhood: Indigenous Men's Journeys

This DVD is part of a resource package developed by the community and university partners in working on FIRA’s Indigenous Fathers Cluster.

The Indigenous Fathers Resource Package, which also includes two booklets and other materials, is available through the website of Early Childhood Development Intercultural Partnerships, a multi-site research project led by Jessica Ball at the University of Victoria. Click here to read a more detailed article about the DVD and resource package.


The full resource package (available for $90.00 plus shipping and taxes ) includes:

• Fatherhood: Indigenous Men's Journeys. 40 minute DVD telling the stories of six Aboriginal fathers (for more information about the DVD, click here)
• Aboriginal Fathers. A Guide for Community Programs (60 page, full colour booklet)
• Beginning the Journey of Fatherhood. A Guide for Aboriginal Men. (60 page full colour booklet)
• 17” X 23” poster
• Summary of the Indigenous Fathers Research Project
• Information sheets
• Worksheet for program workshops.

The DVD can also be ordered separately.

Full ordering and pricing information can be found at:
www.ecdip.org/order

Fatherhood-oriented Parenting Courses

Be a Great Dad: A five-week general fathering course developed by counsellor/life coach Warren Redman, for Families Matter, a Calgary organization that offers a wide range of services for parents.

Redman has written a 107-page manual that gives the background on how the course was developed and provides step-by-step instructions to enable other facilitators to train themselves in how to set up and deliver the course. The manual is available by mail order for $100 plus shipping. Click here for more information about Be A Great Dad. To order the manual click here.

FII-BOCC- The FI-BOCC Program © (Father Involvement - Building our Children's Character), is a 16-hour curriculum designed to teach fathers about the importance of being involved with their children and how to support their children's development of positive character traits. The program content was by members of The FI-BOCC Program © Action Group based on general research findings about father involvement, as well as the material developed by The Virtues ProjectTM. www.cfii.ca/fiion/

It's My Child Too. www.cfs.purdue.edu/fathers/ A curriculum designed specifically for young non-custodial fathers who may be having difficulty moving into the parenting role. Developed by Purdue University's Centre for Families. Currently used by Ottawa's Young Fathers Program.

www.ces.purdue.edu/white/CFS/itsmychild.htm

The Parenting Partnership http://www.theparentingpartnership.ca/ContentPage.aspx?name=Parenting-Partnership

A new prenatal and parenting course program, developed by Invest In Kids (www.investinkids.ca), specifically for expectant, first-time parent couples who have access to the internet. Course material covers pregnancy, birth, supporting healthy child development and working out an effective parenting partnership. The program will be offered in a combination of weekly web-based sessions and flexibly scheduled face-to-face sessions. Currently, The Parenting Partnership will be *piloted with in Ontario, starting in June 2008. For more information about pilot sites call 1-800-583-KIDS.

* Pilot sites are testing the course with heterosexual couples only, for purposes of evaluation. Eventually The Parenting Partnership may be available to other types of parenting couples, such as adoptive or same-sex parents.

24/7 DadTM www.fatherhood.org/247dad.asp

Developed by the US-based, National Fatherhood Initiative: Includes a basic fathering program (24/7 DadTMA.M.) and a more in-depth program (24/7 DadTM P.M.), each consisting of 12 two-hour sessions. Each program can be implemented in a group setting or in a one-on-one home-based setting. Currently in use at the Ontario Early Years Centre in Ottawa.

Public Service Announcements

Fatherhood. It's the best job on the planet www.mydad.ca/tools.php This series of public service announcements was developed by a fatherhood project funded by Health Canada's National Project Fund from 2002 to 2004. Three print ads, four 30-second television spots (two French, two English) and four radio spots (two French, two English) are available for downloading free of charge for use by non-profit groups wishing to promote father involvement.

Resources for Professionals

Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Fathers. A Training Manual for Human Service Workers http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/dca-dea/publications/supporting_module_one_e.html by Dawne Clark, Ph.D. and Rena Shimoni, Ph.D., Mount Royal College and David Este, Ph.D., University of Calgary. This manual was prepared by Calgary Immigrant Aid Society With funding by Health Canada Community Action Program for Children and the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, National Projects Fund