Conflict. It’s everywhere. It happens in and between nations, companies and organizations of all types, and individuals.
Merriam-Webster defines conflict as:
“to be different, opposed, or contradictory: to fail to be in agreement or accord.”
I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a challenge when you encounter a dad in conflict. He might be in conflict with himself, with the mother of his child, with the legal system, or even with his child.
When staff at National Fatherhood Initiative® talk with folks who serve dads, the conflict that we hear about most often is that between dad and mom. They’re like two football teams battling for control of the field, and their child is the football.
This kind of conflict often plagues the relationship between parents who are no longer living together or who never lived together, whether once married or never married. That’s why we have resources geared to improve co-parenting and why co-parenting is a vital topic in our programs for dads and moms and materials that build staff capacity to work with dads and moms.
The importance of helping parents to co-parent effectively is why I was recently pleased to explore the resources of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC). I had heard about the AFCC before. But it wasn’t until I received an email that mentioned a resource they’d developed on “shared parenting”—a recent term that has become somewhat synonymous with co-parenting—that I decided to take a closer look at AFCC.
And boy, was I glad I did!
The AFCC is:
“The premier interdisciplinary and international association of professionals dedicated to the resolution of family conflict. AFCC members are the leading practitioners, researchers, teachers and policymakers in the family court arena.”
The AFCC’s Resource Center has resources in PDF and pamphlet forms that you can share with the dads and moms you serve. Some of those resources focus on:
- How to plan for parenting time
- How to plan for shared parenting
- How to make your parenting plan work
- How to prepare for a custody evaluation
- How to be a long-distance parent
- Questions about separation, divorce, and child custody
- Whether mediation is right for dad and mom
The Resources for Families section of their website—where you’ll find the resources above—also has links to some other organizations that provide guidance on co-parenting.
I encourage you to check out the AFCC’s resources to see whether they can help you to serve dads and moms even more effectively.
Do you struggle to help dads with co-parenting?
Do you struggle to find quality resources on co-parenting?
