Father may have known best in a popular 1950s TV show, but in real life many times fathers can take a back seat to mothers raising youngsters.
However, a new program through Family Services of Central Alberta, set to start in January, is trying to empower fathers and show them the important role they play in their children’s lives and development.
The Father Involvement Program is getting underway with as much as $475,000 in funding over three years from the Norlien Foundation.
Red Deer is one of four sites around the province — including Lethbridge, Edmonton and Cochrane — that will be offering the program in at least four sessions per year.
Dennis Eisenbarth, case manager of the Father Involvement Program, said research has shown that everything from academic achievement to attitudes about smoking, drugs and teen pregnancy can be affected by whether or not there is an active father involved in a child’s life.
Eisenbarth said the hope is that the 12 to 16-week program will help to get more dads actively involved in their children’s lives and build stronger communication and relationships between mom and dad.
He said the goal is also to get dads to reach out to their larger extended family and resources in the community to become better fathers and to encourage the overall culture to improve its overall perspective of the importance of fatherhood.
“One of the important things to recognize is that this is a program that is not just for fathers. It is for mothers too.
“So it very much acknowledges the importance of mom and dad working together,” Eisenbarth said.
“One of the things that the research has found is that the biggest factor that often blocks a father from becoming more involved with his children is the relationship he has with the child’s mother.”
Eisenbarth said it isn’t just a program for married couples, but also those who may be separated or divorced.
“So (the program) recognizes the need to co-parent children. It doesn’t matter what the relationship is between mom and dad, it is important for mom and dad to work together in relation to raising a child,” Eisenbarth said.
The Father Involvement Program is open to fathers who are 18 years of age, with children from infants to seven years of age, who live in Central Alberta and have a functional relationship with the mother of their child or children.
The first course will start on Saturday, January 15, with two sessions and then have meetings one night a week, with two hours of programming each meeting run by two of the therapists at Family Services of Central Alberta.
There is a free meal each night offered to both the mother and father and their children, as well as child care and transportation available.
The sessions will include short presentations, group discussion, exercises and activities and video clips.
Eisenbarth said they hope to expand the program to other surrounding communities in another year.
Anyone wishing to find out more about the program can phone 403-309-5834 or go to the Family Services of Central Alberta website at www.fsca.ca.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com
