Another Study Reveals 24:7 Dad®’s Cultural Relevance

Is 24:7 Dad^® culturally relevant?

That’s a question human service organizations sometimes ask about 24:7 Dad^® or any other fathering program. A recent study published in Families and Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services provides additional support for the program’s cultural relevance.

University of Kentucky researchers partnered with the statewide Commonwealth Center for Fathers and Families and 24 of its local human service partners running 24:7 Dad^® to examine the acceptability (cultural relevance) of its content. Specifically, they aimed to find out whether dads and human service organizations thought the program’s curriculum aligned with their definition of fatherhood and provided the skills training supporting that view. They also wanted to see if dads learned valuable parenting lessons. .

In exploring those objectives, the researchers posed the following questions:

• Does the curriculum include content that aligns with dads’ values, needs, and preferences as parental caregivers, thereby promoting acceptability?
• Considering that human service organizations act as service brokers who may refer fathers to the program, to what extent do their definitions of fatherhood align with those of dads and the curriculum?
• What are the perceptions and observed outcomes of the program among dads and human service organizations?

Dads’ and human service organizations’ feedback provided a clear “yes” to the program’s acceptability. The curriculum highlights the “content, skills, and techniques that dads value and appreciate, and these factors, in turn, support acceptability. The focus is on content that matches their view of fatherhood and emphasizes how to reach their ideal parenting vision.” Lessons the dads learned included:

• Prioritizing love, warmth, and coaching in their fathering while upholding rules and boundaries.
• How valuable the dad’s role is by challenging cultural messages that their primary responsibility is to provide financially and that they can’t parent as effectively as moms.
• Realizing how trauma and abuse in their childhood acted as barriers to becoming the father they want to be.
• The need to heal themselves before they could father effectively.
• Being more confident and healthier co-parents based on the insights and skills they gained during the program’s sessions.

Additionally, the dads—who varied in race, ethnicity, and marital status—agreed that 24:7 Dad^® is relevant for dads of different races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. They were especially complimentary of the program’s benefits for dads and children of color. 

Human service organizations supported dads’ feedback, noting their observations of the growth in dads’ healthy fathering. These organizations represented various human service systems, including child welfare, employment, infant and child health and mental health, child support enforcement, child and family programming, housing, criminal justice, and probation. Both human service organizations and dads said the program’s curriculum aligns with their values and provides what dads need (e.g., tools) to ingrain those values.

This study provides another independent assessment of 24:7 Dad^®’s cross-cultural effectiveness, offering human service organizations, systems, and funders a single solution to enhance fathering in varied families and communities. For further research on the program’s effectiveness with fathers of different races, ethnicities, marital statuses, custody arrangements, and other characteristics, click here. (Scroll down to the “Program Evaluations” drop-down menu.)

Would you like one culturally relevant solution for improving the fathering of the dads you serve or organizations you fund?

What makes 24:7 Dad^® so effective? Click here to learn more about the recently released fourth edition of the program.