Father engagement practices at Valley Oak Children's Services

In recent years there has been a push to increase father engagement practices within social service agencies. This push is a result of research suggesting that children who have actively engaged fathers have improved outcomes in life. As a part of its Strengthening Families Initiative, Valley Oak Children's Services wanted to assess its current practices in father engagement. Two phases were used to complete this assessment. In phase one a needs assessment was used to survey key stakeholders on their views of the agencies father engagement practices. This researcher used an existing qualitative needs assessment survey that focused specifically on father engagement and adapted the survey to meet the needs of the population in their community. Participants in the survey identified as either a past or current client of the program, a current agency staff or board member or a staff of a partner agency in the community. Phase two utilized the results of the needs assessment in phase one to identify gaps in services. Responses from each participant group were compared to provide a look at how the agency views themselves, how clients view the agency and how community partners view the agency. The results were then used as a discussion tool to develop a plan of action to improve the agencies father engagement practices.