National Fatherhood Initiative® Releases Fourth Edition of 24:7 Dad® Fatherhood Program

New edition features improvements that support easier facilitation for a stronger impact on fathers and families

GERMANTOWN, Md., April 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, National Fatherhood Initiative®, the nation's leading fatherhood organization, announces the release of the fourth edition of its flagship fatherhood program: 24:7 Dad®. This evidence-based program is the most widely used fatherhood program in the U.S. by human service organizations, educating thousands of fathers to be involved, responsible, and committed dads 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"Building strong fathers starts with acknowledging dads' vital role in their children's lives and helping dads realize it. That's why National Fatherhood Initiative® created the first edition of 24:7 Dad® over 20 years ago," said Christopher Brown, President of National Fatherhood Initiative®.

24:7 Dad® empowers dads to become the fathers they want to be and their children need them to be through three key areas of impact:

• Healing—Through compassionate guidance and mutual support
• Hope—By building confidence and belief in their fathering
• Help—Giving dads practical, research-backed tools for growth as men and fathers

The program is built on the basis that fathers can be nurturers, and nurturing is a learned skill for men. Its flexible design allows the program to be delivered in diverse settings in person and virtually. Two versions of the program are available: 24:7 Dad® A.M. and 24:7 Dad® P.M. 24:7 Dad® A.M. covers foundational fathering skills and topics, while 24:7 Dad® P.M. covers advanced fathering skills and topics. Since 2003, National Fatherhood Initiative® has trained more than 6,600 individuals to facilitate 24:7 Dad®.

The latest enhancements to 24:7 Dad® were informed by feedback from independent evaluators, facilitators, and fathers, plus the latest research on effective fathering, parenting, relationships, and adult learning. With the fourth edition of the program, facilitators can expect:

• Dedicated manuals for delivering 24:7 Dad® in groups or one-on-one, such as during home visits
• Scripts to better communicate program content
• Improved flow of program activities and integrated feedback from seasoned facilitators
• Tools for seamless in-person and virtual facilitation
• An easier-to-understand fathering survey for evaluating the program's impact
• Engaging and inspirational videos in each session
• Support resources for delivering the program in different time frames and with teen dads

"Every father has unique needs, and 24:7 Dad® is proven to strengthen the connections dads of all ages, races, ethnicities, and religions have with their children," continued Brown. "The fourth edition of 24:7 Dad® represents a new chapter for this transformative program—one that gives organizations important tools to equip fathers like never before to excel in their parenting role."

Positive father involvement is associated with better outcomes on nearly every measure of child well-being, including being less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol and more likely to graduate high school. Skills taught in 24:7 Dad®, such as building resiliency, developing pro-fathering attitudes, and knowing where to get support, can reduce the risk of child maltreatment. Independent research shows that the program increases pro-fathering knowledge, attitudes, and skills, improves co-parenting, and reduces the risk of child abuse and neglect.

National Fatherhood Initiative® comes alongside human service organizations and practitioners with a strengths-based, whole-family approach to father engagement training, evidence-based and evidence-informed fatherhood programs, and other educational materials to help them be intentionally and proactively father inclusive. Since 1994, National Fatherhood Initiative® has partnered with thousands of organizations, communities, and states across the U.S. to increase fathers' presence in their children's lives. A greater proportion of children today live with their father than at any time in the past 34 years.

For more information on National Fatherhood Initiative®, visit www.fatherhood.org. To view and purchase 24:7 Dad® materials, visit store.fatherhood.org/shop-by-program/24-7-dad.

About National Fatherhood Initiative®

National Fatherhood Initiative® (NFI) was founded in 1994 to reverse our nation's destructive trend toward father absence. Today, nearly 20 million American children live in homes where their biological fathers do not live. Yet, the fact remains that millions of families interact with human-service organizations every year that are primarily mother-focused. Therefore, NFI's mission is to increase father involvement by equipping human service organizations and communities with the father engagement training, programs, and resources they need to be father-inclusive. Our vision is that all human service organizations and communities are proactively father-inclusive so that every child has an involved, responsible, and committed father.

Accordingly, we accomplish our mission by:

Educating all Americans, especially fathers, through social media, earned media, research, and free resources.

Equipping organizations and communities with fatherhood programs and resources through training, planning, and technical assistance services.

Engaging and assisting organizations and communities in mobilizing at the micro- and macro-level to increase fathers' involvement in children's lives.

For more information on NFI, visit www.fatherhood.org.

MEDIA CONTACT

Melissa Byers
National Fatherhood Initiative®
240.912.1273, mbyers@fatherhood.org