About Us
The Father Involvement Research Alliance (FIRA) was formed as the outcome of a process of national partnership building with researchers, practitioners, policy makers and fathers. FIRA was conceived a broad-based Canadian alliance of individuals, organizations and institutions dedicated to the development and sharing of knowledge focusing on father involvement.We have worked to develop partnerships, research projects and other undertakings which will further society's knowledge and understanding of father involvement in today's families.
FIRA* seeks to:
- be responsive to the needs and concerns of fathers, communities and institutions
- build upon existing and emerging strengths of fathers while affirming mothers' contributions to healthy child development
- be inclusive and transparent in its consultations and operations
- acknowledge the diversity of background and experience of fathers in Canadian society
Through its various partnerships and activities, FIRA works to:
- generate research agenda's on father involvement
- develop, initiate and carry out new research
- design strategies aimed at sharing new knowledge with practitioners, academics, policy makers and the general public
- promote evidence-based strategies for policy development, practice and systemic change
- link to and engage a broad range of interested individuals, organizations and institutions
- elicit the concerns/issues of Canadian fathers from the standpoint of fathers, mothers and children themselves
*This is FIRA's original Value statement struck in 2003
