National Fatherhood Initiative® (NFI) is committed to helping organizations that use our fatherhood programs meet the challenges they face in serving dads.
One of the most significant challenges is retaining dads in a fatherhood program. To that end, NFI has used the latest behavioral science research on what makes people more likely to stick with a beneficial behavior (e.g. attending a fatherhood program) to develop tools that increase dads' commitment to attend a program on a consistent basis.
One of those tools is the 24/7 Dad® Commitment Pledge. (Click here to read the blog post on this pledge. Click here to download the English version and here to download the Spanish version.)
I had the pleasure of interviewing Betsy Green recently. Betsy is the Family Programs Supervisor for Family Services, Inc. in Lawrence, MA. She oversees the use of 24/7 Dad® with Spanish-speaking dads. She reports that the pledge has helped increase the commitment of dads to attending the program on a consistent basis. As soon as they learned about its availability, Family Services printed the pledges out on 5 x 7 card stock to give to each dad enrolled in the program. The dads say the pledge at the end of every session and during their graduation celebration, which is attended by the dads' families.
There are two reasons why Family Services appreciates the Commitment Pledge. First, it helps them to more effectively accomplish what they see as their primary job with dads: to have the dads leave with father involvement "embedded in their hearts."
And second? It's free! That's right. Betsy says they appreciate that they didn't have to pay for this tool and that it--and the other free resources NFI provides--are very welcome for this cash-strapped fatherhood program.
What tools do you use to increase the retention of dads in your program and other services?
Have you downloaded and started to use the 24/7 Dad® Commitment Pledge?
Are you a dad looking for help? Please visit our Fatherhood Program Locator™ and enter your city and state on the map to find programs and resources in your community.
