Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998

In June 1995, the Clinton Administration launched a government-wide initiative to strengthen the role of fathers in families. The President recognizes that strong families are essential

to the future of the nation, and that both mothers and fathers play an essential role in

ensuring the well-being of their children. The President also recognizes that changes in the

lives of fathers must be supported by the communities in which they live, and that communities must know what resources and support are available to help in this effort. All federal

agencies were asked to review their policies and programs and strengthen their support of

fathers.

The Department of Health and Human Services responded to the President’s request by

expanding and enhancing current efforts in support of fathers, and by developing new 

initiatives. The Administration for Children and Families has made significant efforts on

behalf of fathers.

Head Start Initiatives

Parent involvement has long been one of the cornerstones of Head Start, and fathers are

encouraged to participate in all aspects of the program. In addition, the Head Start Bureau

funded six male involvement demonstration projects between 1991 and 1994, all of which

are still in operation. The Bureau has also published a number of parent involvement

resources – most recently the Head Start Handbook of the Parent Involvement Vision and

Strategies, which outlines how mothers and fathers can play critical roles in their children’s

education. Other innovative steps have been taken to collaborate with fraternities, the

Urban League, and other state and local groups to encourage fathers to volunteer and to

play an active role in children’s lives.

The Head Start Bureau is also launching a new effort to support local Head Start fatherhood efforts. A workgroup has been established and information is being collected on current fatherhood activities across the country. Best practices will be identified, along with

additional resources that might be helpful to local programs. These resources will be developed and disseminated as part of an overall strategy to enhance support for father involvement in Head Start. In addition, a study is currently underway involving Early Head Start,

which serves children from birth to age three and pregnant women. A portion of the study

focuses specifically on fathers who have children enrolled in the program.

The Head Start Bureau welcomes your contributions to these efforts. Information and

materials on father involvement initiatives in your program may be sent to:

Father Involvement Initiative

Head Start Publications Management Center

1025 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Suite 1025

Washington, DC 20005

T: 202-737-1030; F: 202-737-1151
Accepting the Leadership Challenge

Accepting the Leadership Challenge (ALC), a male involvement program, is one of the most

successful family intervention projects that Pinellas County Head Start has ever facilitated. In it’s

eighth year, it also symbolizes success in partnering with collaborators: Hillsborough County

Head Start and the Gamma Zeta Lambda Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

ALC is grounded in the belief that all parents want their children to be happy and successful

in life, and that they want strong and wholesome relationships both within and outside the

family unit. For minority Head Start fathers to achieve these goals, they often must overcome

low education, minimal vocational skills, little training in parenting and social relationships, and

only a shadow experience in economic self-sufficiency. With proper preparation and guided

exposure, though, these men can be successful within their families, the Head Start center,

and the community.

Objectives for ALC are:

• To enhance the skills of minority male Head Start parents or father figures.

• To build stronger male/female and other relationships.

• To provide role modeling and hands-on leadership experiences.

• To build positive stress management skills.

• To offer healthy recreational experiences.

• To provide training on the importance of nutrition and healthy lifestyles; the effects of 

family violence on child development; and the relationship between good work habits 

and success.

• To highlight the importance of financial competence and entrepreneurship in obtaining 

and maintaining a desired life style.

To achieve these goals, the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity offers a series of quality experiences for

Head Start fathers that provide training, educational travel, opportunities for quality family time,

and models of effective parenting.

For more information on Accepting the Leadership Challenge, contact:

William J. Fillmore, Jr., Executive Director

Head Start Child Development and 

Family Services, Inc.

6698 68th Avenue North, Suite D

Pinellas Park, FL 33781

T: 727-547-5925; F: 727-547-5909

Donna Glausser, Director 

Hillsborough County Head Start

4817 North Florida

Tampa, FL 33601

T: 813-272-5140; F: 813-272-7196

Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998
Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998

The Dad Show

Child Incorporated, a Head Start grantee in Austin,Texas, is going global with its father involvement message. Its weekly radio program, The Dad Show, can now be heard around the world

via the Internet.

The Dad Show is a one-hour weekly call-in talk show designed to focus attention on fathers and

encourage fathers to focus on their families. It is a collaborative effort between Child Incorporated and radio station KAZI in Austin. Additional support for developing The Dad Show web site

is provided by Bodhi Incubator.

Topics featured are selected from the Head Start Program Performance Standards and other

issues of interest to parents. Recent topics have included health and nutrition, reading, substance

abuse, homelessness, violence, and dads as mentors and role models. Through The Dad Show,

Child Incorporated has extended its application of the Program Performance Standards to the

broader community, reaching many people in a way that is both non-threatening and accessible.

A variety of listeners are attracted to the show because of its focus on real-life issues. A program on discipline, for instance, appealed to a broad audience. Many parents had questions

about appropriate discipline techniques, and the issue of spanking sparked a heated debate.

The show’s most popular topic has been child support and custody, but even shows that feature

financial advisors make the phones light up with callers.

The Dad Show premiered in 1997, and former President George Bush was the program’s first

featured guest. "I believe the decline of the American family is one of the most serious problems

this country has," President Bush stated. "I think what you’re doing makes a wonderful contribution and is very, very important." President Clinton has also underscored the importance of

such outreach to fathers: "The single biggest problem in our society today may be the growing

absence of fathers from their children’s homes."

Child Incorporated is now reaching out to fathers and their families through the world wide

web. Rebroadcasts of The Dad Show can be heard around the world on RealAudio at www.dadshow.com. Because these are previously aired shows, they are not interactive.

For more information on The Dad Show, contact:

Rae Freeman

Producer, The Dad Show

Child Incorporated

818 E. 53rd Street

Austin, TX 78751

T: 512-451-7361; F: 512-452-2115

E: dadshow@childinc.org
Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998

F.A.M.I.L.Y.

Fathers Advocating Male Involvement in the Lives of Youth

The FAMILY program of the School District of Philadelphia Head Start involves fathers,

uncles, grandparents, and other men in the community who are concerned about the lives

of young children. The program has been so successful that it was featured in Linking Our

Voices, a new training video on parent involvement in Head Start Policy Councils.

The FAMILY program was initiated in 1992, when a Head Start father joined the Policy

Council and found that he was the only male there. He undertook an effort to get more

fathers involved but was killed in a tragic car accident shortly thereafter. Other fathers in

the program picked up the baton and founded FAMILY in his memory.

The men in FAMILY hold monthly meetings where they learn leadership and parenting skills;

receive information in such areas as nutrition and health; explore male/female relationships;

and gain an understanding of how all of these issues affect the lives of children. The topics

addressed during these meetings are determined by the men themselves. FAMILY, which is

now a subcommittee of the Policy Council, collaborated with Temple University to develop

A Resource Book for Male Involvement in Prekindergarten Head Start. The book provides a

curriculum for teaching men what they can do at home to be more involved in their children's lives.

Other FAMILY activities include the annual Male Involvement Initiative Conference and an

annual picnic held the Saturday before Father's Day for all the families, Head Start staff, and

school personnel. The program is also undertaking a literacy initiative to enhance the literacy skills of men and promote their reading to children.

Funding for FAMILY comes from the Head Start program’s Parent Involvement Resource

Fund. The program has been invaluable in supporting men as active partners in Head Start,

and in challenging men peer-to-peer to make the most of their abilities and to be better

fathers. Many men remain active in FAMILY after their own children have graduated from

Head Start, thereby continuing their contributions to the program and to the community.

For more information on FAMILY, contact:

Denota Watson, Parent Involvement Coordinator

School District of Philadelphia Pre-Kindergarten Head Start

Stevens Administrative Center

13th and Spring Garden Streets, Room 301

Philadelphia, PA 19123

T: 215-351-7060; F: 215-351-7398
Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fathers Support Group

The Lee Head Start Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, developed an eight-week group

experience for fathers and other male role models of Head Start children. The Fathers

Support Group provides an opportunity for men to talk with one another and discuss

important issues in a safe and supportive environment.

Topics discussed in each session are based on issues currently of greatest concern to men in

the community. Sessions in 1998 were as follows:

Session #1: Introduction, Group Ground Rules, Ice-Breaker Exercise, and Open Session 

identifying and prioritizing issues to be discussed

Session #2: Balancing Family and Work

Session #3: Discipline with Consistency

Session #4: Establishing Boundaries and Respect

Session #5: Developing Self-Confidence and Character In Your Child

Session #6: Identifying Positive Role Models and Encouraging Safe Play

Session #7: Encouraging an Inquiring Mind: Developing Learning Skills

Session #8: Listen to You Child: Kids Are People,Too

An experienced facilitator participates in the sessions, and the continuity of having the same

facilitator in each session is important to group comfort and cohesion. Funding for the

eight-week sessions is provided through a grant from the ACF Regional Office. Child care is

provided on site by Head Start staff, who generously volunteer their time in support of this

initiative. Transportation assistance is also available to those in need.

The Fathers Support Group has been a success, and men have continued their supportive

associations in more informal group sessions. Participating fathers have represented varying

cultures and ethnicities, including Hispanic,African American, and Caucasian.

For more information on the Fathers Support Group, contact:

Rosemarie Franchi

Director

Child Development Head Start

770 Main Street

Worcester, MA 01610

T: 508-799-3237; F: 508-799-3633

Fall 1998
Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998

Good Guys for Head Start

York County Head Start has developed a highly successful initiative to enhance male

involvement in its programs. With support from a grant awarded in 1998 by the ACF

Regional Office in Boston, Good Guys for Head Start aims to:

• Increase male participation in Head Start 

• Enhance the bonding between children and males

• Provide positive opportunities for fathers/significant males to interact with their children

To accomplish these goals, the York County program has involved all of its 14 Head Start

centers in Good Guys projects and activities. More than 45 men and children participated in

constructing such outdoor equipment as a sandbox, storage shed, slide, and climbing dome.

Outdoor and sporting events also provided an opportunity for men to participate in constructive activities with their children. Most of these activities were held in evenings and on

weekends to accommodate the men’s schedules.

York County Head Start programs have also purchased father involvement materials for

their lending library. These materials include books on fathering and co-parenting skills. Men

can borrow these resources to improve their understanding of the important role they play

and enhance their ability to contribute to their children’s healthy growth and development.

From all indications, this initiative has changed the way men look at involvement in the lives

of their children. The impact can be felt not only in the centers but in home-based interactions as well. One home visitor remarked, "These Good Guys feel more comfortable interacting with us on home visits. This is also providing the children with more emotional

support from their significant males."

Male volunteerism has greatly increased since the initiation of the Good Guys program.The

seven participating Head Start centers have reported a combined increase in male volunteer hours of 572 percent.

For more information on Good Guys for Head Start, contact:

Michael Knight

Family Service/Parent Involvement Manager

York County Head Start

P.O. Box U

Biddeford, ME 04005

T: 207-283-2400; F: 207-283-2408
Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998

The Male Involvement/Empowerment Project

In 1989, the Friends of Children of Mississippi Head Start initiated the Male Involvement/

Empowerment Project to encourage and foster male participation in the home, community,

and especially the lives of children.

The program focuses first on working with fathers to help them become self-sufficient and

to build their self-esteem, self-respect, and life skills so they feel they have something important to offer their children. The program works under the philosophy that you must help a

man develop the skills to support himself before he can start supporting his children.

The program works to help men travel down one of three paths:

• Becoming employed 

• Becoming self-employed 

• Going to school 

Every other Saturday, the Friends of Children of Mississippi hosts a Male Project Summit.

The program focuses on six main topics at these meetings: education, health, government,

life skills, job skills, and human service. These summits aim to empower men to be culturally

and socially literate, as well as self-sufficient. Men receive training in job and life skills, discuss

topics of interest, and learn from members in the community about issues that are meaningful to them, such as credit, child rearing, and what employers look for in hiring.

The project also works to help men start their own businesses. It has partnered with local

banks to get men start-up loans of up to $25,000. To date, the program has helped 106

businesses get underway, making many men self-sufficient. In fact, the average income last

year from these small businesses was between $27,000 and $28,000. Men are also putting

their job training to use, with 170 jobs created, secured, or upgraded last year. Sixty-one

fathers have gone back to school.

For more information on the Male Involvement/Empowerment Project,

contact:

Marvin Hogan

Executive Director

Friends of Children of Mississippi, Inc.

4880 McWillie Circle

Jackson, MS 39206

T: 601-362-1541; F: 601-362-1613
Male Involvement: The St. Bernardine Model 

The Male Involvement Program has been operating at St. Bernardine's Head Start and Adult

Learning Center in Baltimore, Maryland, since 1982. Developed as part of St. Bernardine’s ongoing family life program, the Male Involvement Program is intended to enhance the involvement

of fathers in the lives of their children and the role of both parents as their children’s primary

educators. Today, the program serves 192 fathers and other significant males. St. Bernardine’s

Male Involvement Program, and its parent outreach programs in general, were featured in

Nurturing the Promise, a new video highlighting Head Start and its commitment to providing quality services to children and families.

The first step was the creation of a therapeutic Men's Group, which continues to serve as the

cornerstone of the Male Involvement Program. The group offers an opportunity for men to discuss issues within a safe, nonjudgmental environment. Issues addressed have included co-parenting, paternity establishment, male sexuality, and child support. Although the group is facilitated by

a clinical psychologist, the men themselves determine how the group functions.

St. Bernardine’s offers a variety of other services to help men become better partners and better fathers to their children, including family mediation, parenting skills development, job training,

and substance abuse education and intervention. Most of these services stem from the program’s collaborative relationships with other community-based agencies; the Bureau of Child

Support Enforcement, for example, provides monthly workshops on child support and paternity

establishment.

St. Bernardine’s newest project is Peer Support Counseling. This initiative pairs fathers/significant

males who are new to the program with men who have been involved for at least a year. The

program makes an effort to pair men who have faced similar issues and situations. The Peer

Support Counselors receive ten weeks of training with a qualified therapist and must complete

a course in family mediation before they are paired with a new member. The project is funded

through the Family and Work Institute and Baltimore City Head Start.

In addition to family support initiatives, St. Bernardine's provides opportunities for fathers to be

directly involved in their children’s educational development. An Early Childhood Certification

Program supports the hiring of men as teachers and support personnel. Special time is also set

aside for men to interact with the children at St. Bernardine’s so that the children can experience positive male role models.

For more information on St. Bernardine’s Male Involvement Program, contact:

Sheila Tucker, Director

St. Bernardine’s Head Start and Adult Learning Center

3814 Edmundson Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21229

T: 410-233-4500; F: 410-362-6720

Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998
Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

Male Involvement Initiative

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Head Start program is taking a closer look at the

male role model in early childhood education from a variety of angles: cultural barriers, age

of fathers, local male role models, the effectiveness of grandparents as primary care-givers,

and the importance of male involvement in light of recent brain development research on

children from birth to age three.

The program looks to respected male Tribal leaders to demonstrate to young men that gender-specific roles are not appropriate, and that there is nothing diminishing about being a

nurturing male. In addition, the Head Start program has implemented a cultural curriculum

that encourages men to celebrate their culture with their children through dance, stories,

and sports.

An inordinate number of children in the Choctaw Indian Head Start program are being

raised by their grandparents, even though the parents may be in the community. In response

to this phenomenon, the program has initiated a support group for grandparents. One of

the primary focuses of this group is identifying ways to encourage fathers to recognize the

important role they play in the lives of their children and to accept responsibility for being a

parent. Grandfathers in this group serve as role models and provide an incredible amount

of wisdom and energy to the program.

The Choctaw Indian Head Start program is also involved in a new statewide male involvement effort: the Men in Early Childhood Network. During the Network’s first meeting, participants identified issues common to male caregivers, discussed the strengths that men bring

to caregiving, shared both success and horror stories, and renewed their commitment to

increasing the presence of men in early childhood.

For more information on the Choctaw Head Start male involvement

initiative, contact:

Jerry Parr

Early Childhood Development Director

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

P.O. Box 6010, Choctaw Branch

Philadelphia, MS 39350

T: 601-650-1722; F: 601-656-2763
Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998

SHARE Male Involvement Project

Sunbelt Human Advancement Resources, Inc., (SHARE) Head Start has joined with Alpha Phi

Alpha Fraternity in a creative male involvement initiative. The purpose of the SHARE Male

Involvement Project is to increase the participation of fathers and significant males in the Head

Start program and in the lives of their children. The objectives of this partnership are to:

• Develop effective strategies for increasing resiliency in males through the development of 

intervention and prevention programs

• Provide workshops to alleviate some stereotypical views toward males

• Provide support and mentoring services to help fathers and significant others

• Expose children to positive male role models in their formative years

• Promote a channel of communication for men, children, and families to make problem 

sharing and problem solving a joint effort

To meet these objectives, the SHARE Male Involvement Project concentrates on enhancing

employability skills, parenting skills, and self-esteem. Collaborative relationships have been established with local churches, businesses, and community organizations in support of these efforts.

The SHARE Male Involvement Project provides training in such areas as literacy, life skills, and

relationships. GED courses are also available. Men in the project participate in a number of

key community activities, including the "Partnership for a Drug Free Future" Festival, Habitat for

Humanity activities, and the Special Olympics held at Furman University. In response to the

needs of the children, SHARE Male Involvement volunteers have implemented a series of afterschool activities, including tutoring sessions and intramural sports. As a preventive measure,

youth from local group homes are invited to male involvement events so they may be exposed

to positive male role models.

A unique feature of the SHARE Male Involvement Project is its partnership with Perry

Correctional Center. Members of the project visit men at the Center to provide inmate fathers

with information on Head Start and its services to children and families, as well as mentoring

and life-skills training. Likewise, their visits to the Correctional Center provide male involvement

volunteers with ideas for their mentoring program with youth in the group home, to prevent

young boys from becoming involved with the justice system.

For more information on the SHARE Male Involvement Project, contact:

Rubye H. Jones

Director of Children & Family Development

SHARE Head Start

652 Rutherford Road

Greenville, SC 29609

T: 864-233-4128; F: 864-233-4019
Head Start and 

the Fatherhood Initiative

Fall 1998

The Significant Male Task Force

The Significant Male Task Force (SMTF) in Washington, D.C., was founded in April 1994 to help

men become more involved in the lives of their children. It was organized under the auspices of

the D.C. Public Schools Head Start, and with support from the United Planning Organization

(another grantee). SMTF members include parents, staff, and other supporters of Head Start.

Each man involved is not necessarily the father of a Head Start child—he may be a brother,

uncle, grandparent, nephew, cousin, or friend who has a major role or active interest in the

child’s well-being.

The objectives of the SMTF are to:

• Increase awareness of the need for male participation in children’s lives

• Encourage the involvement of men as nurturers of young children

• Serve as a support group for the Head Start program

• Promote positive self-concept through knowledge of cultural and family heritages

• Instill positive health and nutrition values in young children and their families

• Educate children regarding the negative effects of the use of illegal and legal drugs

• Provide positive role models for children

SMTF provides opportunities for men to be active and supportive of their children and to serve

as surrogate fathers for children who do not have significant male figures in their lives.

The men in SMTF organize and participate in a variety of activities through the year, including

family picnics, mentoring programs, a bike ride/repair program, and workshops on topics of interest to men. SMTF members regularly visit Head Start programs and local schools to read and

tell stories to children. The group also cosponsors "The Saturday Academy," where select students in the fourth through the eighth grades participate in tutoring, field trips, and computer

science, technology, and mathematics sessions during the summer. In May 1998, SMTF held its

second annual training conference entitled "Vision 2000." Workshops focused on reaching

fathers, nutrition, literacy, health, male involvement, and issues that African-American males face

as fathers.

The Significant Male Task Force does not receive regular program support. It raises money for

events and special projects as they are planned.

For more information on the Significant Male Task Force, contact:

James Shird, President

The Significant Male Task Force

c/o United Planning Organization

941 N. Capitol Street, N.E.

Washington, DC 20002

T: 202-289-9100, x273; F: 202-289-2640