Features:

Dad at 17: The story of Tyler Guise. Links to teendads web site

.Just You Wait Till Your Father Gets Home Ways of discipline.

Boys at School: Our boys have been underperforming at school. But are they really "not ready" at five, or aren't the schools?

Regular: Your Relationship:
What Did You Do On Valentine's Day?

Series: Dads Around the Globe
Fatherhood Chinese Style: Although known for its one-child policy, a NZer resident in mainland China found many couples have more.

Some Dads Can't Win: As a separated, non-custodial father you get no thanks for buying your children new stuff.

 In Brief:

PAFT Wants Dads:“Parents As First Teachers” (PAFT) has openings for families with children under 6 months to enrol in the programme. Father&Child understands that after funding wrangles in the last year (see F&C # 16) and cuts to some local services, the government has now set new nrolment targets for local PAFT providers, resulting in vacancies that in some places need to be filled quickly. PAFT educators make home visits about once a month to give parents information about various aspects of child development, and share ideas and activities about “ways to help your child grow to his or her full potential” (PAFT pamphlet). This support will continue until the child is three years old.
PAFT Christchurch manager Nathan Mikaere says, families with a father at home automatically qualify for the programme because of the lack of support they get otherwise. This also applies to single (custodial) fathers. In Christchurch there is a male parent educator available for such families.
PAFT is not a programme specifically for special or high needs families, but rather aims to support parents during the period of the child’s life which is most important especially for brain development.

"Men's Health Policies Needed For DHB's": As the new District Health Boards around the country are drawing up their 5-year strategic plans,the Father&Child Trust in Christchurch has called for the development of a men’s health policy to fill service gaps in the current health system, especially for fathers.
“ [...] No services are available to assist men with the onset of fatherhood or to create male support networks, and the lack of services accessible to fathers is a particular concern for babies and toddlers who are in the sole or main care of a male. This may even be the temporary sole care of an “access” father every other weekend, where he is in an unsupported situation for those periods of time. [The services available] are not formally exclusive to women, but staffing, language, attitudes and practices are all targeted at women.”
The Trust is particularly concerned with fathers missing out on mental health services in the time after the birth of their first child, which is a period of great change in the men’s lives. It criticises a lack of male counsellors with adequate knowledge of men’s mental health issues during that time, that mainstream counselling services are not “father-friendly” because of the times they are accessible, and that mental health services have an image problem with men: “Men are often mistrustful about mainstream mental health services. Trust clients often report that they expect they will be lectured rather then constructively helped in counselling sessions. Such delivery and perception issues of mental health services to men in general, but particularly to fathers, need to be addressed.”
The Trust wants to see better inclusion of men in “maternity” services, a greater emphasis on men as main caregivers, and more consideration for fatherhood in Maori’s men’s health.
“Maori men are overrepresented as primary caregivers of children of all ages. The implications of this need to be considered in the approach to Maori men’s mental health.” says the submission.