A Fatherhood Forum held on 1 May in Invercargill drew more than 60 attendees from non-profit and governmental agencies. The event was organised by the Families Commission and hosted by Our Way Southland, a collaboration of the four Southland-based Councils.

Engaging Dads Better Engaging dads has become a hot topic amongst providers of family services, with more and more considering this a key issue for the quality of their services. Harald Breiding-Buss writes that in order to involve dads in the right way, service agencies need to involve them for the right reasons. When you […]

The New Black: Teen Dads Social policymakers have started to go all gooey about teenage fathers, but there is more to it than funding a bit of help to get their lives straightened out. Teen fatherhood is about improving outcomes for babies and preventing future unplanned early pregnancies, writes Harald Breiding-Buss Teen dads are the […]

Deputy Prime Minister Bill English told an audience of 50 ‘Key Thinkers’ at a forum in Wellington yesterday that he wants people involved in social community initiatives to ‘run down our doors’ with new ideas. He and Social Welfare minister Paula Bennett said that the government is committed to social services that strengthen communities and […]

The government has positioned the Families Commission as a ‘centre of excellence for knowledge about families and whanau’. Providing ‘advice on effective, accessible, and appropriately targeted services’ is one of the Commissions key future roles. The Commission is inviting 50 ‘key thinkers’ from outside government to a forum in May to develop a ‘knowledge base’ […]

The Ministry of Social Development has produced a new resource called ‘Supporting Teen Fathers’ aimed at those working with young dads. It was developed in consultation with local researchers and practitioners, including Father & Child. The resource covers conceptualisation of a service through to delivery and evaluation. Order from MSD, ph (04) 916 3300, or […]

Dan Brown, a young father being supported by the Father & Child Trust, was interviewed on TV3 about the new “In Your Hands” DVD produced by Great Fathers.

A Father & Child survey of 124 dads attending the Waitakere City Toddler Day Out this year, found that a majority felt their needs as a dad are well catered for in Waitakere City. However, only half said that they’d had face-to-face contact with a Well Child Health provider, such as Plunket. Home-based Well Child […]

Recent research shows that dads need to be more included in family services says Families Commissioner Gregory Fortuin.

A new study by Nelson researchers David Mitchell and Philip Chapman on experiences of separated non-resident fathers found that research participants were either unaware of existing services or considered them unfriendly towards men.