TOP TIP - University of Brighton Repository

Supporting 

Young Fathers 

Examples of Promising Practice 

Trust for the 

Study of 

Adolescence 

Nigel Sherriff

Supporting 

Young Fathers 

EXAMPLES OF PROMISING PRACTICE 

Nigel Sherriff 

Trust for the 

Study of 

Adolescence

Supporting Young Fathers 

About TSA 

TSA was founded in 1989 to help improve the lives of young people and families. We 

believe that there is a lack of knowledge and understanding about adolescence and 

young adulthood. We’re trying to close this gap through: 

• doing applied research 

• providing training and projects that develop professional practice 

• producing publications for parents, professionals and young people 

• influencing policy-makers, service providers, and public opinion. 

Acknowledgments 

We would like to thank the Teenage Pregnancy Unit (TPU) at the Department for 

Education and Skills (DfES) for its support in funding this publication 1 . We are also 

grateful to all those who willingly and enthusiastically gave up their time to be 

interviewed for our research. Their cooperation is greatly appreciated. 

We are grateful for the comments and suggestions of the Teenage Pregnancy Independent 

Advisory Group members. We would also like to thank the various anonymous reviewers 

who gave us invaluable feedback on an earlier draft of this guide. 

Thanks to Richard Tomlinson and the Somerset Teenage Pregnancy Board for their kind 

permission to use a number of photographs in this publication. 

Finally, thanks to Kevin Lowe for bringing his extensive knowledge, experience, and 

editing skills to this report. 

A 4 page executive summary is available free to download from TSA’s website 

(www.tsa.uk.com). 

Published by the Trust for the Study of Adolescence (TSA) 

© The Trust for the Study of Adolescence Ltd 2007 

ISBN No: 978 1 871504 81 1 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, 

mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information 

storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Some of the photographs in this guide are posed 

by models. Photographs on pages; 14 In Focus; 16; 26; In Focus, bottom of page 30; In Focus, top of page 34 © Sue Dawson. 

Design: Helen Beauvais 

Printed by: Creative Media Colour Ltd 01273 555590 

TSA Ltd 

23 New Road, Brighton BN1 1WZ 

Tel: +44 (0) 1273 693311 

Fax: +44 (0) 1273 679907 

E-mail: info@tsa.uk.com 

Website: www.tsa.uk.com 

Registered charity number: 800223 

Registered company number: 2300516 

1. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit or 

the Department for Education and Skills

CONTENTS 

Foreword iv 

SECTION ONE – INTRODUCTION 

Who is this guide for, and who wrote it? 1 

What does this guide contain? 1 

About the research 2 

How to use this guide 3 

Background 3 

Supporting young fathers: examples of promising practice 9 

SECTION TWO – PROMISING PRACTICE 

1. Getting Started 13 

Working with young fathers 13 

2. Reaching and Engaging Young Fathers 17 

Accessing young fathers 17 

Reaching teenage (and school-age) fathers 20 

3. Being Strategic 23 

Consulting young fathers: getting services right 23 

Developing integrated approaches 26 

4. Examples of Young Fathers Work 29 

Service delivery 29 

5. Individual, Group, and Mixed Approaches 33 

Bringing younger and older fathers together 37 

6. Young Fathers Workers 39 

Gender and ethnicity in practice 39 

Worker skills and training 42 

7. Working with Other Organisations 45 

Partnerships and networking 45 

Networks for young fathers workers 48 

8. Thinking About Your Work 50 

Evaluating and building on promising practice 50 

SECTION THREE – NEXT STEPS 

Emerging themes and future work 57 

List of contacts 60 

Useful organisations 66 

Resources 68 

References 70 

INTRODUCTION 

Supporting Young Fathers iii

INTRODUCTION 

iv 


FOREWORD 

It gives me great pleasure to write this Foreword to ‘Supporting young fathers: 

examples of promising practice’. This is an important publication, both timely 

and unusual in its scope. It is timely because there does appear to be a growing 

recognition of the need to develop practice in this area. It is apparent from the 

research that Nigel Sherriff has carried out that there are projects up and down 

the country which work with young fathers, and yet it is an area of work very 

much in its early stages. The publication is unusual in that this is the first time 

that anyone has put together examples of promising practice in this field. 

This publication is a result of collaboration between the Teenage Pregnancy Unit, 

which funded the work, and TSA, whose staff carried out the research and wrote 

the guide. I am delighted to see collaboration of this sort working so well, 

particularly since I have close links with both organisations. Beyond my personal 

feelings, however, lies a wider point. An objective of organisations like TSA is to 

disseminate research findings so that they can be useful for both policy and 

practice. This publication is a perfect example of work that can do just that. Both 

policy makers and practitioners should find information in this book, based on 

research, which will prove of great value. 

The publication is also of note because its focus is on a topic that has been far 

from popular with the general public. Unfortunately young fathers do not get a 

good press, and we know that it is essential for that to change if children are to 

benefit and families of young parents to function effectively. The intention of this 

book is to share promising practice and generate ideas for workers in this field, 

to provide information on work with young fathers for those who are new to this 

area, and to provide material for discussion and reflective practice. 

I strongly commend this publication, and the work of Nigel Sherriff and Kevin 

Lowe. I believe that the book will enhance work with both young fathers and 

young mothers, and that it will prove an invaluable resource for years to come. 

I hope that it will be widely read by all in the parenting field. 

Dr. John Coleman, OBE 

Founder, TSA 

Deputy Chair, Independent Advisory Group for the Teenage Pregnancy Unit.

SECTION ONE - INTRODUCTION 

Who is this guide for, and who wrote it? 

This guide was written by Dr Nigel Sherriff and edited by Kevin Lowe Codirector 

of the Trust for the Study of Adolescence (TSA). It is based on research 

undertaken during 2006 which explored interesting and innovative examples of 

work with young fathers from around England. In doing so, it presents thematic 

examples of how existing work has attempted to best engage and sustain contact 

with young fathers including those from Black and Minority Ethnic groups 

(BME) 2 . Based on case-study evidence, it also provides practical examples of how 

this has been achieved focusing on issues such as learning and employment, 

housing, health, and parenting. 

We carried out this work because there is a lack of information about promising 

practice in working with young fathers, particularly in terms of those working 

with teenage and/or school-age fathers. In general, where young fathers work 

does exist, findings are rarely disseminated fully or developed for other 

organisations and agencies to learn from. We therefore hope that this guide will 

be particularly helpful for individuals currently working, or thinking about 

working, with young fathers (e.g. fathers workers, Children’s Centre staff, 

teenage pregnancy coordinators, reintegration officers, Sure Start workers, 

teenage pregnancy midwives, health visitors, Connexions and youth service staff 

etc). The intention is for the guide to convey the voice of practitioners (and 

young fathers) and provide the kind of information practitioners would share 

were they discussing their work in an informal setting. In this way, the guide may 

also be useful for those who are not currently working with young fathers, to 

make their first informed steps in that direction. 

We hope you find it useful! 

Dr Nigel Sherriff and Kevin Lowe 

TSA 

What does this guide contain? 

Founded on a series of in-depth individual and focus group interviews with 

practitioners, this guide provides practical advice and illustrative examples of 

promising practice of work with young fathers. It helps to de-mystify young 

fathers work for less experienced practitioners whilst also offering useful ‘hints 

and tips’ for more experienced practitioners. 

The main section of the guide is organised around areas that projects and 

agencies have told us are important in working with young fathers. These themes 

were also the issues practitioners raise as the ones they are most keen to learn 

about from others. Throughout the guide, we draw upon interview data and 

evidence from the literature to demonstrate and illustrate the points we make. 

2. We use the phrase Black and Minority Ethnic as it is currently the most commonly used and accepted phrase by a number 

of agencies, equality organisations, and some official government documents (see www.dfes.gov.uk). However, we also 

acknowledge the potentially divisive nature of the term in that it can be construed as all-inclusive that does not recognise 

the diversity of ethnic identities subsumed within it. 

INTRODUCTION 

Supporting Young Fathers 1

INTRODUCTION 

2 


About the research 

The case examples of interesting and innovative practice that we refer to are 

drawn from 33 projects and services for young fathers. These agencies were 

identified through the Teenage Pregnancy Unit’s (TPU) networks, existing 

research and publications on young fathers work (e.g. Mordaunt, 2005; 

ContinYou, 2005a, 2005b), and from personal and professional contacts. We 

initially contacted the agencies by phone and e-mail to gather background 

information (e.g. specific client group, focus, aims, objectives etc). We then 

identified the projects to explore in more detail by taking into account a number 

of factors such as geographical location (different parts of England as well as a 

mix of urban and more rural), types of organisation (e.g. ‘mainstream’/universal 

services, special or targeted projects etc), and the ethnicity and age of the young 

fathers the agencies were working with. We were also keen to feature agencies 

whose work was less well known, as well as more established pioneers in this 

field. The overall aim was to feature as broad a spread as we could. 

Our selection criteria aimed to ensure wide diversity in the work that is taking 

place with young fathers and an important conclusion (see page 59) is the need 

to recognise that young fathers are not an homogenous group. However, it was 

not possible to identify the extent to which projects were reaching specific 

marginalised groups such as young men in custody, refugees and asylum seekers, 

young gay fathers or those with physical and/or learning disabilities. 

Nevertheless, material emerged that suggests that some young men from such 

groups are being reached, for example young fathers in public care. There 

remains great deal of scope for future publications to address such diversity in 

more detail. We hope that the current guide may act as a forerunner in this 

respect. 

Following the identification of examples of promising practice, the author then 

visited projects and agencies delivering services for young fathers during June 

and July 2006. In-depth individual interviews and focus groups lasting between 

1-2hrs were conducted on these occasions, and some telephone interviews were 

also carried out. In addition, background information was also collated and used 

in the case evidence that follows. Draft sections of the publication were sent to 

each of the projects and services involved for final comment and to help prevent 

any inaccuracies. A list of contacts for projects and organisations working with 

young fathers included as part of the evidence-base for this report can be found 

on page 60. 

It is important to note that this research has not in any way ‘validated’ the 

practice described as this was beyond the scope/resources of the project. We 

therefore use the term ‘promising’ practice (rather than ‘good’ or ‘effective’) to 

reflect practitioners’ views on what appears to be ‘working’ in the light of the 

emerging agenda of key challenges for such work.

How to use this guide 

This guide can be used in several ways including the following: 

To share promising practice and generate ideas – This guide provides an 

excellent opportunity to see how young fathers projects and other agencies 

delivering services for young fathers, have been innovative in their work with 

young men. Our hope is that by sharing promising practice and raising 

awareness of work with young fathers, practitioners can build on the learning 

and experiences of others. 

As an information source – This guide can also be used to learn about what is 

currently happening in relation to young fathers work. It also provides sources 

of information, ‘hints and tips’, useful resources, research, and the contact details 

of many practitioners and young fathers projects so you can find out more about 

those of particular interest or relevance. 

To promote discussion and reflective practice – Many of the topics and issues we 

discuss are not clear cut, but do provide a convenient opportunity to debate key 

arguments in policy and practice. This guide may also help professionals to 

reassess their own practices and ideas in relation to working with fathers, and 

perhaps share ideas with other colleagues. 

Note on terminology 

Although we use the term ‘young fathers worker’ throughout this guide, we do 

so in a rather general way to mean ‘the person who is working with young 

fathers’. We do not wish to imply that organisations will, or should necessarily 

have specialist posts dedicated to solely working with young fathers, nor do we 

assume that young fathers workers in such posts should necessarily be male. The 

complexities of this issue are covered in section two part 6 (p39). 

Background 

In this section, we provide a brief overview in relation to current knowledge and 

understanding about young fathers. It is not intended to be a full literature 

review, rather to signpost some of the most pertinent issues and research relating 

to practice. We have drawn out a number of themes in order to set the context 

for what is to follow in the guide. 

A blurry picture of young fatherhood 

The UK is reported to be at the top of the league tables for the highest rate of 

(live) teenage births in Western Europe (UNICEF, 2001; Ward, 2005). Whilst 

detailed statistics are available, there are little data describing the young fathers 3 

of these babies. The birth registration system does not routinely record their 

details, and mothers are not legally required to name the father or supply any 

details regarding paternity. Consequently, we do not know how many there are 

or how numbers may have changed. However, what we do know is that young 

fathers are likely to be a few years older than the young mother (Burghes et al., 

3. Young fathers are defined as those who became a father before the age of 25 years. 

INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 

4 


1997; Coleman and Dennison, 1998), and that like young mothers, young 

fathers are more likely to come from lower socioeconomic groups, from families 

that have experienced financial difficulties, and are more likely than average to 

have left school at the minimum school leaving age (Swann et al., 2003). 

Despite the extensive and growing UK literature on fathers generally, there 

remains a dearth of research that recognises the wide diversity of fatherhood and 

the specific needs different fathers may have (e.g. young fathers, fathers in 

custody, non-resident fathers, ‘non-white’ fathers etc; see Ashley et al., 2006; 

Lewis and Lamb, in press). Surprisingly little is known about what fathers want 

or need and written accounts of fatherhood from fathers themselves are 

relatively scarce (c.f. Mordaunt, 2005; Rolph, 1999). Of the gaps in research 

knowledge, the lack of focus and data on young fathers and/or the partners of 

teenage mothers is particularly striking. Young (teenage) fathers are invisible as 

a group, yet they are more likely to require support services and be affected by 

unemployment, poor housing, and a lack of education than older parents (say, in 

their earlier twenties) who may be working (e.g. Speak et al., 1997). A report by 

the Health Development Agency calls for this gap in the evidence base to be 

urgently rectified (Swann et al., 2003; see also Rouch, 2005). 

The current blurry view of young fathers is compounded in a number of ways. 

For example, the belief of many professionals that young fathers (particularly the 

very youngest fathers such as school-age fathers) do not exist in their 

communities is a significant barrier (Ferguson and Hogan, 2004). Invisibility is 

also created by some young mothers being unwilling to involve young fathers in 

what they see as their business (Ghate et al., 2000). Moreover, young mothers 

may not mention the involvement of the young father because of the belief that 

to present as a couple to services is problematic (e.g. for fear of losing benefits 

or will raise child protection concerns). Young fathers may also be absent for 

other reasons such as not knowing that they are fathers, imprisonment, or 

exclusion by the mother’s family. It is also likely that much of young fathers 

invisibility occurs because workers do not routinely collect data about them or 

include them in services that are for young ‘parents’ (Pollock et al., 2005; 

Quinton et al., 2002; Ryan, 2000). 

Young fathers in policy 

Until relatively recently, fathers have generally been absent from policy initiatives 

aimed at parents. When the spotlight has occasionally fallen on them it has been 

more likely to focus on what they are failing to do, or are doing poorly. This has 

been described as promoting a ‘deficit model’ of fatherhood (Doherty, 1991). 

In the last few years though, there has been an increased emphasis on fathers 

within the context of family-friendly policies (e.g. paid paternity leave, 

examinations of directives concerning working hours, and attempts to 

restructure the Child Support Agency; Lewis and Lamb, in press). Indeed, the 

need to engage with fathers is a strengthening theme in government policy (e.g. 

DfES/DoH, 2004; Goldman, 2005). For example, the Sure Start Children’s 

Centre Practice Guidance (DfES, 2005) highlights the need to develop 

‘personalised’ services for fathers, male carers, and other male relatives. More 

specifically, the guidance proposes that services should consider and respond to 

fathers’ needs including areas such as finding work, help with benefits and 

housing, and supporting fathers in developing positive relationships with their 

children.

In relation to young fathers, recent national policy frameworks such as the 

National Service Framework (NSF) for Children, Young People and Maternity 

Services have emphasised the need for greater engagement with young fathers by 

professionals. Similarly, the Social Exclusion Unit’s (2005) report Transitions, 

Young Adults with Complex Needs acknowledges the need for improved 

assessments of the needs of young fathers. In September 2006, the Department 

for Education and Skills (DfES) published ‘Teenage Pregnancy: Accelerating the 

Strategy to 2010’ which announced that the DfES would be issuing guidance on 

all aspects of delivering support for teenage parents for local authorities in early 

2007 as well as the present publication on promising practice on supporting 

young fathers. In relation to young fathers, it is envisaged that the forthcoming 

guidance will look at how maternity services and Children’s Centres can be 

better tailored to meet the needs of young fathers. Moreover, it will also look 

specifically at how young fathers can be supported to engage in education, 

employment and training and how best to support them to take greater 

responsibility for contraception (over which male partners can have a strong 

influence) to help reduce second and subsequent unplanned pregnancies. 

The benefits of young fathers work 

Work with fathers is important because they make a particular contribution to 

their children’s development and family life. Men’s involvement in family life is 

changing, and whether resident or not, fathers have a significant role to play in 

the development and well-being of their children (Lamb, 2004; Lewis and Lamb, 

in press; Lloyd et al., 2003; Warin et al., 1999). Research confirms that fathers 

can have a substantial impact in terms of both positive and negative outcomes 

for their children (Cawson et al., 2000; Lamb, 2004; Lamb and Lewis, 2004; 

Lloyd et al., 2003), and has also highlighted the need to support young and 

vulnerable fathers in the involvement with their children (e.g. Mordaunt, 2005). 

For example, evidence suggests that children do better among separated families 

when there is close and positive contact with both parents (e.g. Amato et al., 

1999). Moreover, high levels of positive father involvement in two parent 

families is associated with a range of desirable educational, social and emotional 

outcomes for children and young people (e.g. Flouri, 2005). These include 

including better examination results, better attendance and behaviour, less 

criminality and substance abuse, better peer relationships, higher self-esteem and 

confidence, and better mental health. Furthermore, studies have found that when 

fathers are involved with their children at age seven, this can act as a protective 

factor in relation to education, crime, mental health, and homelessness. Once 

fathers are involved, they are also more likely to remain so (Flouri, 2005; Welsh 

et al., 2004). 

However, it is important to acknowledge that an increased level of father 

involvement is not always positive. For example a range of negative 

developmental outcomes for the child have been associated with some fathers’ 

poor or neglectful parenting, anti-social behaviour, and substance abuse. 

Whether a positive or negative influence, what is clear is that everything a father 

does impacts on the child, and as Burgess (2006b) points out, although negative 

behaviour by some fathers could be seen as an impetus to exclude men from 

family services and support programmes, the alternative view is that such 

behaviours actually accentuate the need to work with fathers in public services. 

The recognition that parenting matters (mothering and fathering), and is an 

important and critical influence on a child’s life, has been stated explicitly in the 

government’s 2003 Green Paper Every Child Matters (ECM). In section three of 

INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 

6 


the document ‘Supporting Parents and Carers’, it states that ‘In the past, public 

policy has paid insufficient attention to supporting parents and helping families find 

solutions for themselves’. It goes on to acknowledge the need to build responsive 

and flexible services to support children that involve parents without excluding 

fathers: 

‘…the government would like to develop more and better universal services…which 

could include…support programmes for fathers as well as mothers so that all 

children, but especially those who are living apart from their fathers, develop 

positive relationships with both parents.’ 

ECM is important because it has led to children and young people’s services 

being radically reshaped to bring about a new focus on the prevention of poor 

outcomes. Such an emphasis offers a unique opportunity to develop services that 

relate to families as a whole (i.e. including fathers), rather than just parts of 

them. 

Young fathers and services 

A growing body of research (Pollock et al., 2005; Ryan, 2000; Quinton et al., 

2002) suggests that services often exclude young men through a combination of 

‘traditional’ mother-focused approaches, ignorance of male perspectives, and 

sometimes through overt discrimination. Services that cater for young parents 

almost invariably focus on young mothers, and even where they also aim to 

support young fathers, they often struggle to find ways to do this effectively (e.g. 

Ghate et al., 2000; Ryan, 2000). 

In their report examining research findings relating to fathers involvement with 

social care services, Ashley et al., (2006, p.19) point out that practitioners are 

often reticent about engaging fathers in services because of the ‘possible impact 

on women and children attending who may have experienced domestic violence, and 

because of more generalised concerns and worries about child sex abuse’. This 

means that in many instances, professionals are continuing to juggle with 

constructions of the father as a ‘risk’ vs. the father as a ‘resource’ (Featherstone, 

2001). In their study of young prospective Black fathers, Pollock et al., (2005) 

also highlight how young men are excluded by services. The authors found that 

the young men were committed to involvement in fatherhood and the future care 

of their child. However, the authors report that the young men’s experiences of 

antenatal care at the hospital, together with extensive involvement of the 

mother’s family and friends, tended to reinforce feelings of being marginal to the 

pregnancy. Consequently, Pollock and her colleagues, argue that there is a need 

to challenge the established ways of working with young fathers in maternity 

provision in order to promote the development of more father-inclusive services. 

Practices focusing almost exclusively on the mother are deeply embedded within 

the teenage pregnancy sector, and probably stem from an understandable desire 

to empower and respect the young mothers whom agencies are in contact with. 

But there is a lack of confidence and clarity in many local programmes and 

services about how to work effectively with both young mothers and young 

fathers. Practitioners who are used to working with young mums often find it 

hard to understand the relevance of young fathers to their work (Burgess, 

2006a). As a result, even services that do engage with young men place little 

value on their roles as fathers, and rarely ask questions about parental status as 

a matter of course. Services that have not been proactive in trying to engage with 

young fathers are not held sufficiently to account for this failure, either locally

or nationally. Work with fathers is welcomed when it happens, but it does not 

lead to many searching questions about local effectiveness if it does not happen. 

However, there is perhaps an important caveat here in that it is likely that a 

genuine dilemma exists for some practitioners in terms of their core beliefs about 

legitimate client focus. On the one hand, there is the issue of whether mainstream 

services (where the well-being of the child and/or the mother is usually the main 

focus), should be engaging with young fathers who may not be involved with the 

child or mother (e.g. because of exclusion or non-residency). If so, then there is 

a legitimate argument for the need for more specialised (as oppose to generic 

mainstream) services that can offer dedicated support for young fathers. 

However, on the other hand, and as discussed earlier, research has demonstrated 

the impact a father can have on the developmental well-being of the child. 

Consequently, this suggests that even if young fathers are not directly involved 

with the child and/or mother, then mainstream services should try to engage and 

support young fathers as part of their broader remit of ‘working with parents’ in 

the same way that already happens with young mothers. 

So far in this section, we have drawn attention to the need for more ‘fatherfriendly’ 

services. However, it is important to acknowledge that some young 

fathers are wary of involvement with services and collude with the historical 

service focus on mothers and children. For some, engaging with such services 

may be seen as ‘unmanly’. Such ideas form part of wider (and changing) notions 

of popular ‘masculinity’. 

Although there is an extensive literature on the concepts of masculinities and 

femininities (and it is beyond the scope of this publication to review it), it would 

appear that knowledge of contemporary thinking is very patchy amongst 

practitioners working with young fathers/parents. Whilst some agencies and 

projects are rooted in a deep understanding of such ideas, amongst others there 

is possibly a tendency to oversimplify. In such circumstances, promoting services 

for males is championed as a way of redressing the perceived excesses of 

feminism, rather than part of responding to a more complex understanding of 

how masculinities and femininities function in current society. From the author’s 

perspective, it would appear that a working knowledge of such ideas and how 

they might impact on young men and women in relation to fatherhood would be 

valuable for practitioners. 

Beliefs about young fathers 

Incessant stereotyping of young fathers has led to widespread ‘deficit beliefs’ 

which include notions that young fathers are not interested in their children, are 

irresponsible, uncaring, and that young mothers are better off without the 

(young) fathers of their children (Burgess, 2006a). Research evidence strongly 

contests the stereotypical view of the worthless and ‘feckless’ young father 

(Lamb and Lewis, 2004). For example, Suzanne Speak and her colleagues (1997) 

have shown that many young fathers fervently want to be involved with their 

children but often face significant barriers in doing so including inadequate 

housing, low income, and resistance from the mother or mother’s family. Other 

studies by Quinton et al., (2002) and Rolph (1999) confirm that many young 

men want to become and remain involved in their children’s lives, and that 

fatherhood for many young fathers, is viewed as a source of pride rather than 

something to run away from. 

INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 

8 


It is now well acknowledged that the attitudes and ambivalence of many 

professionals’ towards young fathers, needs to change. Recommendations from 

TSA’s young fathers project (Mordaunt, 2005) advocate that challenging the way 

language is used in policy and practice, can act as an important catalyst for 

change in attitudes about young fathers. Similarly, in a telephone interview 

Roger Olley from Fathers Plus (Children North East) argued that government 

policy documents need to be reviewed to ensure that the word ‘parent’ is not 

used as a euphemism for ‘mother’. This view was echoed by a number of projects 

we spoke to in this research, and is an issue we discuss at various points 

throughout the guide. 

‘It’s important you don’t say teenage parents - you say "teenage 

mums and dads"- until professionals understand that when you 

say teenage parents, you really mean it!’ (Practitioner, TPSS, Hull) 

School-age young fathers and older young fathers 

It is clear that although ‘young fathers’ generally are more invisible than their 

older counterparts, there is a group of even younger men who are further 

subsumed within this category. Significant gaps in research, discussion, and 

practice about school-age fathers are only too evident. As we discuss later, few 

young fathers projects or services engage specifically with fathers under the age 

of 16 years, partly because of perceptions that they can be so ‘hard-to-reach’ but 

also because of beliefs that they simply are not ‘out-there’ - such perceptions 

need to be challenged. Moreover, whilst there are mechanisms in place to identify 

and support school-age mothers, no such mechanisms are available for schoolage 

fathers. Yet very young vulnerable men are equally at risk from exclusion 

and are likely to require considerable emotional and practical support in their 

daily lives. 

As we discuss in ‘Being Strategic’ (see p23) it is also important to acknowledge 

the heterogeneity of young fathers needs, and discern how they may differ 

according to various characteristics such as age, ethnicity, and socio-economic 

status. Sexual identity and whether the young man has a disability will also be 

relevant, and young men from particularly marginalised groups such as those in 

public care tend to experience additional difficulties not shared by their wider 

peers. There is a tendency in the literature to talk about young fathers as though 

they are a homogenous group of young men. However, services and those 

working with young fathers need to recognise the diverse agendas young men 

may present. 

Next steps 

Throughout this publication we argue that mainstream services need to engage 

more fully with young fathers so that they ultimately become ‘normal’ and 

legitimate clients and that the term ‘parent’ genuinely begins to mean both 

‘mother’ and ‘father’. We also argue that whilst there is a need for the 

development of more system-wide strategies and service provision that are young 

father-inclusive, there also needs to be a mix of specialist services aimed at young 

fathers but that are still integrated with mainstream father-inclusive services. 

This is an issue we explore at various points in sections two and three of the 

guide.

Supporting young fathers: 

examples of promising practice 

Work with young fathers continues to be patchy across England. In some regions 

it hardly seems to exist, whilst in others, the profile is high. However, the signs 

are positive as evidence of promising work continues to emerge. In the course of 

collating the material for this report, it has become clear that there is some 

excellent work currently being carried out with young fathers across the country. 

For example, well-established projects such as boys2MEN (London), the 

Mancroft Advice Project (MAP; Norwich), Base 25 (Wolverhampton), and 

Fathers Plus (Newcastle), continue to develop and build up dedicated expertise 

in work with young men 4 . At the same time, newer, less established projects and 

services are also beginning to make headway such as Fathers First (Isle of Wight) 

that works with teenage and school-age fathers, Lewisham Young Fathers 

Project offering integrated services for young fathers, and research and 

consultancy work with Black and Minority Ethnic young fathers in Bradford and 

Luton. 

It is of course always difficult to have a complete handle on what is happening 

‘on the ground’ in terms of young fathers work. A common cry from 

practitioners working with young fathers (or those about to), is that they often 

do not know what is going on ‘out there’: they tend to only get snippets of 

information about existing young fathers work. Consequently, new work with 

young men is not always built upon the learning experiences of others. This 

guide therefore aims to provide a productive first-step by identifying and sharing 

examples of promising practice of work with young fathers from around 

England. It is hoped that this will not only communicate the priority that 

Beverley Hughes (current Minister for Children, Young People, and Families) has 

placed on engaging with (young) fathers, but at the same time offer useful and 

practical advice on how work with young men can be taken forward. 

In this publication we have aimed to move beyond generalist descriptions of 

agencies’ work. Instead, we have tried to provide the practical details that 

practitioners told us they want to learn about. 

We have deliberately included a lot of reference material at the end of the guide, 

including a list of contacts which summarises the work of individual agencies, 

details of other useful organisations, and a list of resources. We hope this will 

enable readers to network with each other and delve more deeply into the issues 

that particularly interest them. 

4. A list of young fathers projects consulted in the writing of this report can be found on page 60. 

INTRODUCTION 


10 

Supporting Young Fathers

1 

Getting PROMISING PRACTICE 

started 

In our research, we asked practitioners what they thought were the key 

issues or practice tips when setting-up and carrying out work with young 

fathers. With this knowledge, we hope that developing young fathers work 

may start at steps three or four, rather than beginning at step one. 

Working with young fathers 

Work with young fathers 

has particular challenges. 

Negative beliefs about young 

fathers, lack of funding, difficulties 

engaging young men, low confidence 

in working with young men, and 

cultural barriers are just some of the 

issues those working with young 

fathers face. Perhaps the most 

common concern reported by the 

projects and organisations we have 

spoken with is the lack of sustained 

funding for work with young fathers. 

The short-term and irregular nature of 

funding can lead to low staff morale 

and difficulty in long term planning 

especially in relation to partnership 

working. Setting-up support for young 

fathers can take a long time to get 

started and when it does, or is just 

about to, funding runs out and the 

work stops, often meaning valuable 

learning is lost. 

But there is no need for doom and 

gloom. Some projects and agencies say 

that with careful focused planning, 

starting young fathers work is not 

always as difficult as it first appears. 

The Health Initiatives Team at 

Education Leeds that works with 

school-age fathers, suggests that 

projects do not need vast amounts of 

money to start making headway; 

rather an understanding of young fathers 

needs, a commitment to the cause, the 

ability to be flexible and a willingness to 

challenge unhelpful professional 

attitudes towards young men. 

Similarly, T-BAG in Halifax runs a 

mixed support group for young 

mothers and fathers aged 16-25 years. 

Provision is built upon already existing 

services, meaning costs are kept to a 

minimum as premises are already there 

and staff time is incorporated within 

existing job roles (see In Focus, p14). 

B2b+ in Sunderland got started in their 

work with young fathers following the 

recognition that there were large and 

5. Throughout this guide we attempt to differentiate between specific young fathers projects, and agencies and organisations delivering 

(or wanting to promote appropriate) services for young fathers. Consequently, we use both sets of terms (i.e. project, and 

agency/organisation) to avoid overly simplistic suppositions about the kinds of young fathers work in question. 

‘Young fathers 

work doesn’t 

need to be 

anything 

special - it’s 

just about 

recognising 

and 

understanding 

their needs – 

then 

addressing 

them.’ 


Getting Started 

Key Questions 

• Which young fathers are out 

there? What do you know 

about them? 

• How will you identify and gain 

access to these young 

fathers? 

• What services are you 

offering? Why would young 

fathers want to get involved? 

• How will you assess (and then 

act upon) young fathers 

support needs? 

• How will the work be funded, 

and for how long? 

• How will you raise awareness 

of the project/service? 

• How will success criteria be 

developed and measured? 

How will these be monitored 

and who will be responsible 

for this? 

infocus 

14 

Meeting young fathers needs 

T-BAG (Teens-Babies Advice Group), 

Halifax - The Information Shop for Young 

people (part of the Connexions Centre in 

Halifax) has encouraged and supported a 

group of young parents (mums and dads) to 

get together to form their own support group. 

T-BAG is a support and advice group for 

young parents aged 16-25 years living in 

Calderdale. The group provides (peer) 

support and offer the chance to meet other 

young parents and make new friends in a 


widening gaps in service provision for 

young fathers compared to young 

mothers. B2b+ realised that young 

fathers don’t always want ‘group’ 

support. Instead, one-to-one support 

and outreach work was needed in the 

same way it was already available for 

young mothers. Grants received from 

Sure Start and the Teenage Pregnancy 

Unit meant extensive support work 

was already underway for young 

mothers in the region. Successful 

funding bids to the European Social 

Fund (ESF) and Neighbourhood 

Renewal Fund (NRF) provided the 

financial basis for developing work 

with young fathers. 

Manager of The Place, and the B2b+ 

project, Alison Horrox said that one of 

the most important learning points in 

working with young mothers and 

young fathers, is that ‘one size does 

not fit all!’ Moreover, she states that 

practitioners must routinely ask about 

a young man’s parental status in the 

same way they already do with young 

women: 

‘They always ask a young woman if she’s 

a mother, but not the young man - 

practitioners must start to routinely ask 

if he’s a father… it’s not difficult but it 

relaxed and child-friendly environment. There 

is a wide range of information available to 

young parents including advice on health, 

education and training, money and benefits, 

sexual health, housing, and jobs. The group 

meets every Friday 11-1.00pm, children are 

welcome and separate crèche facilities are 

provided. Young parents also take advantage 

of all the other support services on offer in 

the centre. Located within the town centre, 

the Information Shop is easy to access being 

supported by a local train station and regular 

bus services nearby. 

Work with teenage fathers was developed by 

building on already existing work with young 

teenage mums who were accessing the 

Information Shop and wanted support that felt 

inclusive. Young fathers and male partners of 

the young mothers asked that they be 

included in such support. Because the group 

is based within the Connexions Centre, 

overheads and costs are minimal. T-BAG is 

steered by the young parents (mums and 

dads) themselves who meet once a month to 

means a whole lot in terms of support 

needs… many young men drop-out, or 

are kicked-out, of services because they 

don’t attend, are tired or arrive late – but 

that’s because they have been up all 

night with their child… practitioners 

must start to ask these simple questions 

so young men can access the support 

they need.’ 

Other promising practice in getting 

started involved ‘getting services right’ 

through consultation with young 

people and continual evaluation 

informing further work (see p23). 

Projects and agencies told us it was 

important to develop knowledge and 

understanding of cultural issues, to 

offer wide service provision (rather 

than just parenting programmes) and 

to build effective working 

relationships (networks) with other 

agencies. The people we interviewed 

emphasised perseverance: 

‘It’s hard work - sometimes you end up 

sat there on your own – but it’s about 

perseverance and making good 

connections with other agencies that will 

support you… it’s a long process and can 

feel like you’re banging your head 

against a wall.’ 

ensure the project remains relevant to the 

needs of its members. At the time of writing, 

approximately five teenage fathers and 6-7 

teenage mothers attend the group regularly. 

‘It doesn’t run off any money. We run 

it under the umbrella of the 

Information Shop. There’s no 

expense. We’ve done a few 

fundraising events – a sale at 

Christmas with baby toys to 

generate some income for the 

hardship fund - but we don’t need 

anything as far as premises, ‘cos 

we’ve got premises. And staff - it’s 

part of the staff’s development to do 

such things – We have just received 

a grant - Children’s Network Fund. 

They gave us £1,000 for the group, 

for expenses, developing the group, 

and going on trips and things.’ 

Contact: Olinda Olekeswycz (Project 

Manager) on Tel: +44(0)1422 330 033

Learning Points 

✱ To plan and deliver services effectively, it is important to find out about the local community; 

its geographies, its needs, its existing provisions. The Upfront Teenage Pregnancy Team in 

Bradford have conducted action research to identify gaps in provision for young fathers from 

Black and Minority Ethnic groups including those from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and African- 

Caribbean communities. The team are now using the findings to start filling these gaps in 

services for young BME fathers. 

✱ A number of projects and agencies told us it is important for workers to identify the kinds of 

locations and venues where young fathers can go with their children. Barrow Dads’ Group in 

Cumbria says that identifying somewhere fathers can go with their children (other than fastfood 

places), is a valuable way to engage with fathers, and can help them to develop regular 

and positive contact with their children. Such sites should have good transport links and be 

areas that young fathers can feel comfortable in. These could include spaces that are already 

shared with other service users (e.g. young women), or be separate spaces held at different 

times and in different locations to services held for women. 

✱ Support for young fathers needs to be wider than just parenting programmes. Consider 

combining basic information, support, and advice (e.g. relating to health, housing, 

education, and employment etc.) alongside ‘fatherhood work’. The UKdadsposse and the 

Potential Project in Oxford have successfully done this (see In Focus next page) with an 

emphasis on involving young fathers from African-Caribbean communities. 

✱ Getting started does not have to be financially demanding. However, gaining funding for 

starting or sustaining work with young fathers can be difficult. Fathers Plus in Newcastle 

tells us that to increase the chance of being successful in funding bids, projects and 

agencies should explain explicitly how their intended work relates to major policy outcomes, 

such as the five key outcomes in Every Child Matters. Even though sources of funding 

change frequently (and some such as the European Social Fund may only be available in 

specific regions or localities) possible options include: 

• Renewal and regeneration funding (e.g. Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and New Deal 

for Communities programmes) 

• Teenage pregnancy local implementation grant (paid to top-tier local authorities) 

• Local health authorities and Primary Care Trusts (PCT) 

• European Social Fund 

• Children’s Fund and Local Network Fund 

• Children, Young People and Families single grant scheme 

• Voluntary sector organisations in the children’s and youth sector 

• Sure Starts/Children’s Centres 

• Local Authority Children and Young People plans 

• Big Lottery Fund 

• Extended Schools and Healthy Schools Funds. 

PROMISING PRACTICE 

‘Successful 

work with 

young fathers is 

not rocket 

science, it 

doesn’t have to 

be "innovative", 

in fact it’s often 

not innovative, 

its about 

listening to what 

they want.’ 

✱ TOP TIPS 

Fathers Direct offer 

a free advice line 

(up to 15 minutes 

per call) and e-mail 

support for 

individuals trying to 

develop work with 

young fathers, or 

attempting to make 

their organisation 

or service fatherinclusive. 

Contact by 

telephone: 

0845 634 1328 

or e-mail: 

workershelpline@ 

fathersdirect.com 


16 

Getting Started 

infocus 

Meeting young fathers’ needs 

UKdadsposse and the Potential Project, 

Oxford - The UKdadsposse and the Potential 

Project are community projects jointly funded 

by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and 

Oxford City Council. The programme provides 

support, training, and information to fathers, 

male carers, and young men and boys in 

school. The projects aim to provide a safe 

environment where young men can develop 

active participation in the nurturing and 

development of their children/families. They 

also aim to encourage the personal 

development of individuals, and to assist the 

creation of positive identities of young men 

as fathers. Services offered include: 

• weekly drop in sessions, topic discussions 

informed by user participation 

• personal support and advocacy, including 

help and advice on issues such as 

housing, legal advice, welfare rights, 


educational support and signposting to 

other agencies 

• personal development including parenting 

skills, anger management, communication 

and conflict resolution, first aid and health 

and safety in the home 

• outreach work including visits to young 

fathers at home and family centres 

• social events 

• emotional and practical support to 

fathers/male carers and their families. 

Contacts: Carlton Gabbidon (Project 

Manager), Tel: +44 (0)1865 779 298 or 

Christine Etheridge (Teenage Pregnancy 

Coordinator, Oxfordshire), Tel: +44 (0)1865 

226 816 

Barrow Dads’ Group, Barrow-in-Furness 

Running since 2001 and aimed at fathers 

(and carers) of all ages (including teenage 

fathers), Barrow Dads’ Group(s) works in five 

Wards of Barrow in rural Cumbria including 

Abbotsvale, Greengate, Hindpool, Ormsgill, 

and Walney. The various groups collectively 

aim to enable fathers to develop positive 

relationships with their children by spending 

valuable time with them through activities and 

outings. Currently, nearly 100 fathers, fathersto-be, 

and carers regularly access the 

groups. 

‘…we started with £50, no dads 

turned up for 3 weeks – but then 

one did, and it all started from there.’ 

The five groups each within different local 

communities in Barrow, run on different days 

of the week helping to increase access for 

those who might not be able to make a 

particular day or time. Activities for fathers 

and their children are numerous including 

cooking, football, fishing, picnics, arts and 

crafts, camping, day trips, and parenting 

courses (such as Speakeasy and first aid). 

By working in partnership with Social 

Services, local solicitors and local parents, 

Barrow Dads’ Group are also able to offer 

the opportunity for estranged fathers to see 

their children within the group settings. 

Although estranged fathers are offered 

structured group activities, many prefer to 

spend one-to-one time with their child. There 

are currently 15 fathers accessing this 

service. 

With funding from Barrow Sure Start, Barrow 

Dads’ Group have recently set-up aqua-natal 

classes for fathers-to-be with their pregnant 

partners. Already existing for women only, the 

new classes are designed to help fathers-tobe 

bond with the mother and ‘bump’ and 

take place outside normal working hours 

(Wednesdays 7.30-9.30pm). Sessions are 

free and transport can be provided if 

required. 

Contact: Dave Morrison 

(Community Support Manger) 

Tel: +44 (0)1229 871 480 

‘YOUNG FATHERS WORK DOESN’T NEED TO COST A LOT OF 

MONEY, YOU JUST NEED TO BE A BIT THOUGHTFUL ABOUT IT …’

2 

Reaching and PROMISING PRACTICE 

engaging young fathers 

Reaching and engaging young fathers is the ‘bread and butter’ of young 

fathers work. We asked a number of projects and organisations about the 

methods they had used that had worked and the ones that had not. We 

also asked what they had learned about engaging young fathers. Finally, 

we present some examples of promising practice in terms of reaching 

school-age and teenage fathers. 

Accessing young fathers 

Projects reported a wide range of 

methods to raise awareness of 

their work and reach 

and/or engage young 

fathers. To help promote 

their project, B2b+ in 

Sunderland use simple 

written material (e.g. leaflets 

and posters) with jargonfree 

language to account for 

the fact that some young 

men may have poor literacy 

skills. B2b+ works to ensure young 

fathers can engage with their services by 

offering drop-in sessions, providing a 

range of venues where courses take 

‘You really 

need to get into 

the community 

and find out 

who the people 

are – the 

people who 

know people.’ 

place, offering group, outreach (e.g. 

home visits), telephone, one-to-one 

support, or a venue of the 

young dad’s choice. 

Combined with inclusive 

‘men-friendly’ policies 

(where the term ‘young 

parents’ has been replaced 

with ‘young mothers’ and 

‘young fathers’), B2b+ has 

enjoyed strong successes 

in reaching young fathers. 

During 2004-5, a total of 40 young 

fathers accessed support through the 

project. Other examples include the 

Great Yarmouth Young Men’s Project 

‘IF YOU CAN 

ENGAGE 

YOUNG 

FATHERS-TO- 

BE BEFORE 

THEIR BABY’S 

BORN, YOU 

CAN SOW THE 

SEEDS, 

WHEREAS 

COMING IN 

LATER IS MUCH 

HARDER.’ 

Key Questions 

* How many young 

fathers are there in your 

area? 

• What specific needs do 

they have? 

• Which young fathers do 

you want to reach? 

• Who might be able to 

help you do this? 

• What approaches or 

methods might help you 

reach and engage young 

fathers? 

• How might these 

methods exclude some 

young men? 


Reaching and Engaging Young Fathers 


‘At the start of a project offer bite-size projects or activities 

so that there isn’t an expectation that the young dads have 

to commit forever.’ 

✱ Building networks is essential – these can be formal (e.g. through local 

agencies) or more informal (e.g. meeting mothers picking their children up 

from school). Amongst others, projects and agencies in Bradford, Lewisham, 

Norwich, Halifax, Leeds, Rotherham, Brighton and Hove, Sunderland, and 

Hull all report that accessing young fathers through their female partners, has 

been a successful recruitment strategy. 

✱ Agencies are an important source of referral but care needs to be taken to 

ensure referrals are appropriate and fit with the services being offered. 

Practitioners need to be able to explain clearly what the benefits of the young 

fathers work are, and for whom (e.g. the young father, the child, or both?). 

✱‘ Word of mouth’ is probably the best means of recruitment but relies on at 

least some young fathers having positive experiences and then passing on 

that information (Featherstone, no date). T-BAG in Halifax has relied on this 

almost exclusively as young parents pass on their experiences to others. 

✱ Material (flyers, booklets, posters, packs etc) should explain clearly what the 

benefits of the services being offered are for young fathers (and their 

children) i.e. why they might want to get involved. The Great Yarmouth Young 

Men’s Project and the Mancroft Advice Project in Norwich have developed a 

comprehensive information pack for young fathers (the Norfolk Young Fathers 

Fact Pack). The pack details the support available and how to access it, and 

provides clear information and advice on a number of varied topics (e.g. 

legal, paternity tests, child-care, relationships, benefits etc). 

18 


(GYYMP), DVD in Rotherham, the 

Teenage Pregnancy Support Service 

(TPSS) in Hull, and Sure Start in rural 

Berwick-upon-Tweed where young 

fathers have been accessed through antenatal 

services. Routes include 

encouraging health visitors to ask about 

the involvement of the young father, 

gaining referrals through the young 

mother, or by young fathers workers 

being present at clinics to talk to any 

young fathers who attend appointments 

with the young mother. 

DVD in Rotherham said they had been 

criticised by some agencies for offering 

sports and activities such as football, 

cricket, and rugby sessions as ways of 

engaging with young fathers: 

‘…we were challenged about why are 

you playing football – you should be 

showing ‘em how to change nappies and 

make up a bottle and stuff like that.’ 

DVD argued that such activities were a 

vital tool to draw young fathers in and 

help them gain confidence and esteem, 

before starting parenting work: 

‘A lot had no confidence, no self-esteem 

- engaging them with football got ‘em to 

be part of a team, got them running 

about and talking to each other - for one 

day a week they felt good about 

themselves… we used football as a tool 

to draw the young dads in – after that, 

you can then ask them to do other more 

parenting stuff.’ 

Many projects told us that reaching and 

engaging young men nearly always takes 

longer than anticipated. They also said 

that although networking with other 

agencies is an essential source for 

referrals, it should not be relied upon. 

For instance, some agencies may not 

understand fully the nature of the fathers 

work provision (for example, making 

assumptions that it focuses exclusively 

on issues such as anger management). In 

some cases, the work may be viewed

with suspicion with presumptions that 

because it is pro-fathers, the work must 

be anti-mothers (Lloyd, 2001). 

Consequently, referrals from other 

agencies may be patchy in numbers or 

infocus 

Engaging BME Young Fathers 

Upfront Teenage Pregnancy Team and 

Sure Start, Bradford – Upfront are 

currently developing and delivering services 

for BME young fathers in Bradford based on 

research undertaken by a member of the 

team. Positive links with Sure Start Bradford 

(Manningham and West Bowling) means the 

team have developed considerable expertise 

in engaging with BME teenage fathers 

(particularly those from Pakastani and 

Bangladeshi communities). Following a series 

of interviews with team members and two 

interviews with the Sure Start young fathers 

workers (in West Bowling and Manningham) 

these learning points emerged. 

What’s gone well 

• Understanding the sexual health needs of 

BME young men through research and 

consultation has been a useful route to 

developing services. 

• Parenting programmes delivered by Sure 

Start young fathers workers are enjoyed by 

the young fathers and have led to many 

successes including helping fathers gain 

access to their children, gain employment, 

and improving relationships with their 

children. 

• Creating a strong network of community 

contacts has been invaluable. A positive 

relationship with the Council of Mosques 

has been a huge ally in gaining access to 

young BME fathers who are Muslim. 

Challenges 

Territory – distinct territory boundaries in 

some communities mean some young men 

will not stray into each others areas. 

inappropriate. For example, young men 

who were not fathers (or fathers-to-be) 

were frequently (and inappropriately) 

referred to DVD by some local agencies. 

Consequently, young fathers are unlikely to 

attend if services are not located within their 

specific territory - even if geographically, it is 

just next door. 

Isolation - many of the youngest BME 

fathers do not want others to find out they 

are a parent, particularly if the relationship is 

outside of marriage. This is compounded by 

concerns that professionals will pass on their 

details to others in the community. 

Perceptions - Sure Start settings are 

perceived as being primarily for women - 

meaning young men do not go or feel that 

the services are for them. Furthermore, some 

BME (young) men will not participate in 

mixed-gender activities such that if both 

partners (or someone of the opposite sex) 

turn up to an event, one or the other will 

leave. 

Islamic perspectives - Sex and 

Relationship Education (SRE) rarely 

incorporates Islamic perspectives on sexual 

health issues (e.g. contraception, abortion 

etc). This can be difficult to address because 

there is no homogenous Islamic perspective. 

There are many Islamic perspectives and 

work needs to recognise the diversity of 

views. 

Current challenges involve work with Asian 

teenage fathers of children of White teenage 

mothers. Upfront’s sexual health outreach 

worker reports there have been real 

difficulties in accessing both the young 

parents together, particularly when the young 

parents own parents are not aware of, or do 

not condone the relationship. 

Recommendations 

‘Workers need to have a sound 

knowledge and understanding of 

Islam and its many facets, it can 

really open doors.’ 

• The key to addressing cultural concerns 

regarding SRE programmes is often 

negotiation, for example, agreeing with 

parents on the most appropriate ways to 

depict sexual images. 

• Young fathers workers need to engage with 

the local community figures. Extensive 

outreach into the community is vital for 

reaching and engaging BME young fathers. 

‘People who know people’ are crucial, but 

it is important to remember that local 


figures (irrespective of the community they 

come from) will inevitably have their own 

values or agendas. Workers need to be 

alert to how to make the most of such 

contacts without compromising the 

agency’s position. 

• Knowledge of culture sensitivities is 

important in understanding why young 

fathers don’t access services. Many men 

may not want to discuss fathering issues 

openly for worries about perceptions of 

weakness, but also worries about people 

passing information on and others finding 

out. Developing knowledge of local 

cultures and communities is important in 

breaking down these barriers. 

• Spaces where young fathers from specific 

religious and cultural groups can go and 

mix only with other men may be important 

in engaging some young men with support 

services. 

• Building relationships and trust over time is 

essential. Workers must be patient and be 

willing to be available outside the 9-5 

working day. 

• Language skills are useful, though not 

essential. The ability to speak/understand 

Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, and English can 

help to engage with others significant to 

the BME young father (e.g. his own 

parents, grandparents etc). Moreover, as 

there are some faith and cultural concepts 

that are not easily translated into English, 

being able to offer a multi-lingual service 

will clearly enhance the quality of 

interaction between the worker and young 

father. 

Contacts: 

Upfront Teenage Pregnancy Team, Tel: 

+44 (0)1274 432 445 

Nicola Corrigan (Teenage Pregnancy Advisor) 

Claire Whiteley (Teenage Pregnancy 

Coordinator) 

Zed Shaffi (Sexual health outreach worker) 

Sure Start 

Ali Asgar (Dad’s Involvment Worker and 

Family Support Worker, West Bowling), Tel: 

+44 (0)1274 201 493 

Rashed Hussain (Young Fathers Worker, 

Manningham), Tel: +44 (0)1274 323 603 



20 

Reaching teenage 

and (school-age) fathers 


Accessing school-age fathers raises quite different challenges to 

accessing older young fathers. There is a considerable lack of 

understanding and research about teenage and/or school-age fathers. We 

know little about how many there might be, how many maintain close 

relationships or what forms their relationships might take. 

‘It’s hard to identify young fathers because he’s not carrying the 

belly - so engaging means it’s often about him coming forward, 

and having someone in school that he can come forward to, such 

as mentors and designated teachers.’ 

Significant gaps remain in service 

provision for teenage and/or 

school-age fathers. In some ways 

this is not surprising given the 

complexities involved in working to 

strike a balance between child 

protection concerns and the young 

fathers’ support needs. Moreover, (and 

as we noted in the introduction) few 

projects and agencies work specifically 

with fathers under 16 years, partly 

because of prevailing beliefs that such 

individuals can be so ‘hard-to-reach’. 

For instance, school-age fathers may 

be less interested in attending 

organised sessions than their older 

counterparts. Given their youthfulness, 

teenage fathers are likely to be 

immature, and perhaps unable or 

unwilling to understand the nature and 

level of their responsibilities. They may 

also be less willing to be pinned down 

by time appointments (Mordaunt, 

2005). Furthermore, young fathers 

who are at school may be wary about 

taking time off for appointments, 

preferring not to draw attention to 

their status. 

Practitioners wishing to offer support 

for the youngest fathers mentioned a 

number of barriers they have faced. 

For example, the difficultly in finding 

such fathers (their ‘invisibility’), 

the lack of support mechanisms if such 

fathers are identified, complicated 

circumstances with the mother and 

her family, educational difficulties 

(sometimes including behavioural 

problems), and the attitudes of some 

staff (e.g. social workers and school 

employees). But some projects told us 

that not only can the work be done, it 

can be done well. 


Education Leeds work exclusively with 

school-age parents (and parents-to-be; 

mothers and fathers) and the teenage 

male partners of school-age mothers. 

The team has developed considerable 

expertise in working with young 

parents of compulsory school-age (see 

In Focus, next page). 

Other projects and services currently 

delivering support for teenage fathers 

(but not necessarily school-age fathers) 

include the Young Fathers Project in 

Lewisham, Brighton and Hove Young 

Fathers Project, B2b+ in Sunderland, 

T-BAG in Halifax, Fathers First in the 

Isle of Wight, UKdadsposse and the 

Potential Project in Oxford, and the 

TPSS in Hull. See List of Contacts on 

p60 for details.

infocus 

Working with School-Age 

Fathers 

Health Initiatives Team, Leeds – The 

Health Initiatives Team’s at Education Leeds 

works city-wide with schools and other 

agencies to ensure that school-age parents 

(mothers and fathers) are able to access 

appropriate education, ensuring that 

educational achievement is not 

disadvantaged by pregnancy or parenthood. 

In 2004, the Team developed the post of 

Specialist Learning Mentor for Teenage 

Fatherhood with funding from Connexions, 

Sure Start (Plus), and Education Leeds. The 

role involves working with school-age fathers 

and the male teenage partners of school-age 

mothers to identify both the support needs of 

teenage fathers, and how agencies in Leeds 

can alter their practice to become more 

‘young father-friendly’. Together with the 

Childcare Coordinator, the Mentor started 

running a weekly after school group (FACT; 

Fathers and Children Together), where 

school-age young fathers and fathers-to-be 

can come together for some mutual support 

and have access to an experienced childcare 

specialist. 

FACT (Fathers And Children Together) 

With 3 dedicated workers (one specialist 

learning mentor and two nursery nurses), 

FACT is based around social issues such as 

housing, health issues, and parenting. The 

group offers support through peers and 

brings in guest speakers from other agencies 

to offer specialist knowledge on a variety of 

topics (e.g. ranging from NHS speakers such 

as a teenage pregnancy midwife and sexual 

health worker, to the local council providing 

talks on car seat safety). For those in contact, 

young fathers are encouraged to bring along 

their babies as it is recognised as often being 

the only time they get to spend with their 

babies on a one-to-one basis without anyone 

interfering. For those who can’t bring their 

baby to the group, other fathers in the group 

‘share’ their babies so all members can 

practice their parenting skills and join in the 

activities. 

Occasional (low cost) day trips are offered 

(e.g. visits to the library, local parks, and to 

see Santa) and locations chosen deliberately 

to ensure that they are in very public places 

in order to both raise the profile of teenage 

fathers, increase the young father’s 

confidence about being a father in public, 

and challenge negative perceptions regarding 

parenting competence of young fathers. In 

2003-4, approximately 14 school-age fathers 

accessed the service rising to 24 during 

2005/6. 

Learning Points: 

‘Ticking boxes doesn’t work, 

because it doesn’t challenge the 

culture surrounding young fathers 

work … you’ve got to be passionate 

about what you do and be able to 

challenge other professionals’ 

views…’ 

• The immediate impact of appointing a 

Specialist Learning Mentor for Teenage 

Fatherhood was that many young fathers 

and young fathers-to-be engaged with the 

support offered by Education Leeds much 

more than before, and felt able to be much 

more open about their support needs. 

Moreover, referrals from schools and other 

agencies have increased, and many young 

mothers have expressed keen interest in 

introducing their partner to the Specialist 

Learning Mentor. 

• Experience has shown that work with 

young fathers does not need to cost a 

great deal of money. Large expensive 

celebration type events are unsustainable 

and do not lead to increased engagement. 

Guest speakers (e.g. for FACT, and SRE 

programmes in schools) are often willing to 

speak for free as part of their professional 

developmental role. 

• Workers need to be comfortable in 

challenging attitudes and beliefs about 

school-age fathers. For example, why do 

you think he shouldn’t play a fathering role, 

why is he an undesirable influence on this 

child? 

• Some specific learning from FACT has 

revealed that that running the group at the 

same time (directly after-school) and on 

the same day every week is important as it 

provides a sense of continuity and stability 

for young fathers who may have rather 


chaotic lifestyles. Providing a father-friendly 

environment where the group is held (e.g. 

displaying photos of the young fathers and 

their babies themselves) is easy to create 

and helps young men feel that the service 

is for them. 

• Although the after-school group FACT is 

essentially a pilot activity that is a part of 

the broader work of Education Leeds in 

terms of its contribution to the local 

Teenage Pregnancy partnership, it does 

provide a positive example of what a 

forward thinking agency and effective 

partnership can do. 

Contacts: John May (Specialist Learning 

Mentor for Teenage Fatherhood) or Jenny 

Midwinter (Sexual Health Initiatives 

Coordinator), Tel: +44(0)113 395 1215 

Ladz 2 Dadz, Northamptonshire 

Funded by Northampton and Heartlands 

PCTs, the Ladz 2 Dadz project is an 

integrated element of the mainstream 

services offered by the Northamptonshire 

County Council’s Teenage Parent Support 

Team. The service for young fathers and 

young fathers-to-be was established in April 

2006 and offers advice, support and positive 

encouragement to young fathers aged 

between 14-21 years (including those who 

may be ‘looked after’ in residential or foster 

care). The aim of the project is to help young 

fathers to meet their own, and their 

babies’/children’s basic physical, social and 

emotional needs. 

Work is varied, individually tailored, and 

focuses on issues such as employment, 

education and training, parenting skills, 

legal/welfare rights, housing and benefits. 

The intensity of support and specific delivery 

methods are flexible and depend on the 

circumstances presented. Project workers 

meet the young man in a location of his 

choice, wherever he feels most comfortable. 

Access to the service is via a referral from 

anyone including the young father themselves 

who feel the service will enhance the 

opportunities available to the young father 

and/or their child. Since April 2006, 25 

young men have accessed the service, three 

of whom are currently of compulsory schoolage. 

Contact: Heather Frick 

(Teenage Parents Support Team Manager), 

Tel: +44 (0)1933 231 050 

‘… YOUNG FATHERS AT SCHOOL ARE SO INVISIBLE, IT’S REALLY 

DIFFICULT TO FIND OUT WHO THEY ARE.’ 




• The lifestyles of some very 

young fathers and fathers-to-be 

of compulsory school-age, 

means having a dedicated 

worker with time to be flexible 

and re-schedule appointments 

can be helpful. 

• During initial contact, allow the 

young father to choose the 

venue to help them feel safe. 

Fathers First in the Isle of Wight 

tell us that this is a particularly 

effective way of re-engaging the 

young father on subsequent 

occasions. 

• Avoid going headfirst into 

parenting issues. For the 

youngest fathers, issues such as 

education, exclusion, housing, 

and money issues may well be 

more pressing. Fathers First and 

the TPSS in Hull say that nonparenting 

concerns (e.g. 

educational exclusion, 

relationship difficulties, and 

enquiries about employment and 

housing) are most often to the 

fore in their work with the 

youngest fathers. 

• Look at how you can develop 

positive working relationships 

with local schools and networks 

(e.g. designated mentors, school 

nurses, Connexions Personal 

Advisors etc.). Such contacts 

can be an effective route to 

promote the services available to 

school-age fathers and schoolage 

fathers-to-be. The Health 

Initiatives Team at Education 

Leeds receive nearly all their 

referrals of school-age fathers 

directly from contacts within the 

school system. However, other 

sources of referrals also include 

teenage pregnancy midwives 

and school-age mothers. 

22 



‘School-age dads can be reached… it’s taken a lot of work to 

challenge and give other professionals a helping hand up to 

understand that - we work hard to ensure health professionals reach 

young dads as well as the mums. Every bit of information for young 

dads is there… and they’re really interested.’ 

✱ Perhaps the largest barrier to engaging with school-age fathers is finding them in the first 

place. In school, acknowledging the young father often relies on him coming forward, 

whereas for the mother recognition and support are much more visible and explicit. It is 

important to explore how best the culture and ethos in schools can be influenced so that 

pupils who are parents-to-be (male or female) feel more able to come forward early to 

access the support that is available to them. In doing so, it is also important for such 

support (where available) to be rendered more ‘visible’ to both schools and pupils. 

✱ Evidence from work with school-age/teenage fathers shows the youngest fathers want to be 

involved in the care of their child, but their circumstances can conspire to exclude them: 

‘…often it’s a case of the status of their relationship - they may have 

only been together a matter of weeks and not officially in a 

relationship - and that relationship isn’t recognised by either family. 

So, very quickly the young man will be pushed out of the equation.’ 

✱ It’s not just the attitudes of many professionals that must be challenged about working with 

school-age and teenage fathers. The attitudes of young mothers and young fathers 

themselves also need to be challenged. Pilot research in Croydon and Lewisham (South 

London) by Working With Men (WWM) has revealed that many young fathers are much 

more involved with the young mother and their child than professionals believe: 

‘It’s not only professionals’ attitudes that are problematic here - we’re 

talking about something much more complicated. We’ve got to point 

a finger at those young mothers and young fathers… as there are 

some attitudes here that need to be challenged in their perception of 

the housing and benefits system. They think that to present as a 

couple is problematic – so young mothers are saying very little about 

the young dads - they want them involved, the young father wants to 

be involved - but neither are telling anyone that they are involved.’

3 

Being PROMISING PRACTICE 

strategic 

In this part we look at what projects and agencies told us are most 

important to delivering services that meet the needs of young fathers. 

Adopting a carefully planned approach is crucial. Poorly thought out, or 

‘bolt-on’ approaches are unlikely to be effective. The issues raised here 

link in with a number of other topics covered in this guide such as 

recruitment, evaluation, working with other organisations, and so on. 

Here, we address just two particularly important aspects of working 

strategically: consulting young fathers, and developing integrated 

services. 

Consulting young fathers: 

getting services right 

Consultation (perhaps through 

interviews, discussion groups, or 

participation) with young 

fathers is an essential way to help build 

understanding of an issue and identify 

opportunities for further work. TSA’s 

Young Fathers Project (Mordaunt, 

2005) found that many young fathers 

tend not to respond readily to services 

that impose a particular content 

and/or style of delivery; rather projects 

need to ‘identify the needs of their 

clients at the outset, and then regularly 

review them to improve and develop the 

service’. In some ways, there is rather a 

chicken-and-egg situation here: impose 

a style and content delivery first and 

then consult, or consult first and then 

develop services? 

Our research tells us that either of 

these two ways of working can be 

effective. The most important factor to 

increase the chance of successful 

outcomes is that consultation does 

take place, and that practitioners work 

hard to consider how best they can 

meet the individual needs of young 

men. 

‘Avoid an 

unconscious 

bolt-on 

approach, it 

just doesn’t 

work – you 

need 

dedicated 

provision for 

young fathers.’ 


Being Strategic 

KEY QUESTIONS 

• Who will you consult with? 

Young fathers, young mothers, 

practitioners (which ones?), 

colleagues? 

• What methods will you use in 

the consultation process? 

• How might you develop a 

gender differentiated 

approach? What works with 

young mothers may not 

necessarily work with young 

fathers. 

infocus 

24 

Research and Consultation 

through Drama 

Merton Teenage Pregnancy Partnership 

The Teenage Pregnancy Partnership 

recognised support for young fathers in 

Merton needed to be addressed urgently. 

Consequently, the partnership mapped 

services that worked directly with young 

fathers or who had young fathers in their 

client group. This led to the development of 

a piece of research carried out with young 

fathers (under 24 years with teenage 

partners) in order to identify their support 

needs. 

A number of interviews were conducted with 

young fathers, and the findings given to Pro- 

Thinc Theatre Company to devise a short 

play based on the young fathers’ 


One particular example of promising 

practice comes from YMCA in Luton, 

which recently (June, 2006) ran a 

large-scale consultation event with 

African-Caribbean young fathers. The 

consultation intended to discover what 

support African-Caribbean young 

fathers needed before, during, and 

after pregnancy in order to shape the 

focus of future work. YMCA used a 

number of methods (including 

questionnaires and interviews) to find 

out about young fathers’ experiences, 

including feelings about the medical 

aspects of pregnancy, the attitudes of 

the respective families (both fathers’ 

and mothers’), and the levels of 

contact the fathers had with their 

children. Following the event, YMCA 

is exploring ways in which local 

projects can be funded to undertake 

the work. 

The B2b+ project in Sunderland also 

views consultation as an integral part 

of deciding what services are offered to 

experiences. Young fathers in the area were 

then invited to attend a consultation event 

where the play was shown to stimulate 

discussion about their experiences and ways 

of improving support offered to them. The 

audience consisted of young fathers aged 24 

and below, whose partners were under 20. 

Over 30 young fathers from Merton and 

Sutton also attended the event and 

expressed their experiences and views about 

being a young father in Merton. 

The combined research and drama event 

revealed young fathers wanted a variety of 

support such as: 

• advice, support and information on 

housing, employment and benefits, 

parenting skills, local services, 

relationships, child access issues, and 

confidence building 

• provision of one-to-one support and a 

young fathers group 

• somewhere locally to take the baby 

• the same ‘advantages’ and support young 

mothers currently receive 

• a fact sheet or newsletter for young fathers. 


• The research and consultation event 

demonstrated that family networks are a 

young parents. Young fathers are 

asked what it is they need at every 

stage of the planning process, and 

future project plans are heavily 

influenced by these discussions. For 

example, some young fathers were 

interested in learning how to play 

constructively with their children. As a 

result the young fathers and nursery 

staff developed a ‘Play with a Purpose’ 

course that looked at child 

development and the importance of 

age appropriate toys and activities that 

are affordable for the parents. 

A further example of promising 

practice regarding consultation comes 

from the Merton Teenage Pregnancy 

Partnership. Based in South London, 

the project innovatively used findings 

from their consultation to create a 

drama project designed to stimulate 

further discussion about improving 

support for young fathers (see In 

Focus). 

key source of support for young fathers in 

Sutton and Merton, and that young fathers 

currently gain little support from 

professionals. 

• The consultation provided an essential 

evidence base on which to expand and 

develop support for young fathers in 

Merton. 

• Since the event, an increasing number of 

young fathers have accessed the Teenage 

Parent support services. 

• The research and consultation was 

successful in two ways: it helped 

professionals gain a greater understanding 

of the needs of young fathers, and led 

directly to the expansion of existing 

services. It also raised young fathers’ 

awareness of the services available to 

them. 

• Consulting through drama was particularly 

effective because it allowed young fathers 

to discuss their views and experiences 

through characters in a play. This allowed 

young men to express and contribute as 

much or as little as they wished in a safe 

and non-threatening way. 

Contact: Kate Jezernik 

(Teenage Pregnancy Coordinator), 

Tel: +44 (0)208 687 4733


‘Understanding cultural issues 

is essential when planning 

work – young Asian fathers 

tend not to access services… 

so you have to get your 

understanding of what’s 

needed and what’s already out 

there.’ 

✱ Being strategic is vital in working with young fathers. Approaches need to be planned 

in advance and reviewed regularly if they are to be effective in providing sustained 

provision that meets the individual needs of young fathers. 

✱ Learning from TSA’s Young Fathers Project (Mordaunt, 2005) tells us that practitioners 

intending to work with young fathers should determine from the outset their intended 

impacts, identifying the who, how and when, along with those responsible, success 

criteria, costs and the required staff, training, and support. 

✱ Planned work with young fathers must acknowledge the diverse needs of different 

BME groups. For example, the Upfront Team tell us that many Muslim young fathers 

in Bradford wish for Islamic perspectives to be taken into account, especially 

regarding sexual health issues (e.g. contraception). Upfront report that consulting and 

negotiation with influential community figures can be crucial to the success of work 

with BME young fathers. 


✱ TOP TIP 

✱ Consider youth-work style 

approaches that take the 

young person’s agenda as the 

starting point, rather than 

imposing a definition of what 

‘fathers work’ entails at the 

outset. 

✱ Work with young people 

to maximise ownership: ask 

them what they want, again 

and again, and act on what 

they say. 

✱ Think carefully about 

venue and access: Drop-ins 

are particularly appealing to 

young people but should be 

located in a central community 

setting. The location should be 

‘young-father-friendly’, have 

good transport links, and 

preferably under the same roof 

or nearby to a service that 

young people are already 

accessing for another service. 

‘IT IS ABOUT LISTENING TO WHAT THEY WANT... IF SOMETHING 

DOESN’T WORK, DON’T FLOG IT TO DEATH!’ 



26 


Developing integrated approaches 

As we argued in the introduction 

to this guide, mainstream 

services need to engage more 

fully with young fathers to ensure that 

they become ‘normal’ and legitimate 

clients, where the term ‘parent’ 

genuinely means both ‘mother’ and 

‘father’. However, it is also important 

to recognise the complexity of what 

this means in terms of service 

provision. Young fathers don’t all have 

the same needs. For example, a father 

who does not have contact with his 

child, and is desperate to achieve this, 

is likely to have a very different agenda 

from someone living with their child 

and enjoying a positive relationship 

with the child’s mother. 

Consequently, whilst the integration of 

support for young fathers into 

mainstream services is of course 

desirable, specialist services also have 

an important role in terms of meeting 

‘EVERY WORKER IS A FATHERS WORKER!’ 

the heterogeneous needs of young 

fathers. Lowe (2006) notes how with a 

small shift in attitudes and practice, 

including some young fathers in 

mainstream services is easily 

achievable, particularly for those who 

are already involved with their 

children and perhaps living with the 

child’s mother. More effort is required 

to include those fathers who are 

involved but are perhaps not living 

with the mother, and who are more 

ambivalent about services. Lowe 

(2006) asserts that the most complex 

group is where the relationship with 

the mother has broken down, 

especially if the young father is not in 

contact with the child. In such 

circumstances it is much harder for 

services that support young parents to 

discern their role with regard to the 

young father in these situations (unless 

there is a physical safety issue). This is 

where more specialist services have an 

important role in terms of focusing on 

the young fathers needs as a catalyst 

for building bridges towards his 

positive contact with the child. 

Whilst there is a need for the 

development of more system-wide 

strategies and service provision that 

are young father inclusive, there also 

needs to be a mix of specialist services 

aimed at young fathers but that are 

still integrated within mainstream 

father-inclusive services. In terms of 

the former of these, Fathers Plus in the 

North East, tell us that being strategic 

is of fundamental importance in 

developing such approaches to work 

with young fathers. Roger Olley 

(Project Manager) suggests services 

need to conduct ‘whole system

eviews’, whereby the team reflect 

upon the ways in which young fathers 

are treated from start to finish. Such 

‘whole team, whole system’ 

considerations are likely to include 

examinations of areas such as 

administrative procedures, identification 

and measurement of success, 

underpinning principles (e.g. deficit 

models of fatherhood vs. more 

strength based models), evaluating 

modes of delivery and initial 

contact/referral/recruitment strategies, 

and so on. Such system reviews are 

time intensive, difficult and often 

involve ‘invisible work’. However, they 

are also essential if systemic changes in 

the way work with young fathers is 

carried out and perceived, are to occur. 

infocus 

Integrated Working 


(TPSS), Hull - The TPSS is a centrally based 

team comprised of a teenage pregnancy 

coordinator and four teenage pregnancy 

advisers with different specialisms (including 

school-age mums, pregnancy and child 

health, housing, and young fathers). The 

TPSS provides services for young fathers that 

are fully integrated into the mainstream 

support offered to teenage parents. The 

TPSS posts are now permanent (including 

the fathers worker post) and are funded 

through both the council and the PCT. 

Fathers work is totally integrated and a part 

of everyone’s role within the team. 

‘Up until March 2006, the teenage 

pregnancy support service had Sure 

Start Plus funding, and funding for a 

young fathers post. This meant the 

team which was originally two 

advisers - as is common across the 

country, then became two advisers 

B2b+ in Sunderland, which offers 

young father-inclusive strategies 

within their mainstream provision say 

that a seemingly small, but crucial step 

for them in developing a more 

integrated approach to work with 

young parents, was to interrogate the 

use of language within their written 

policies. By changing the word ‘parent’ 

to ‘mother’ and ‘father’, it makes more 

explicit the strategy areas that exclude 

young fathers. 

The TPSS in Hull has developed 

integrated and mainstream services for 

teenage parents in such a way that the 

word ‘parent’ really does mean both 

mother and father (see In Focus). 

plus a fathers worker. Later we also 

got a housing worker. So it became 

more of a service than the adviser 

model. We now have four advisers 

who specialise in different areas but 

who all work with the young 

fathers… we’re now funded jointly by 

the PCT and the Council which 

means the whole service is 

mainstreamed.’ 

The TPSS team have developed strong 

partnership links with local schools, health 

services and housing providers. Support is 

offered on a one-to-one basis via a drop-in 

service once a week. During this time a 

number of services are provided for at least 

some of the day including support with a 

TPSS adviser, (including the fathers worker), 

health visitor, midwife and the provision of 

sexual health information and free condoms. 

During 2005-6, approximately 399 young 

people were supported. 324 were female 

(pregnant or a teen mother) and 75 were 

male (father or father-to-be). Of the 75 young 

men, 56 were a father-to-be at the point of 

accessing the service. Of the 399 total, 257 

young people were aged 17 years or under. 


‘One of the reasons we have been 

successful is because young fathers 

work isn’t just seen as fathers work, 

it was seen as work with men 

generally… fatherhood issues are 

built into everything we do, rather 

than being a discrete element.’ 


‘Agencies hide 

behind the 

‘parent’ word. 

Use of the ‘F’ 

word in policy 

and 

documentation - 

the "father" word 

- is absolutely 

crucial. It 

changes the 

whole timbre 

around teenage 

pregnancy 

strategies.’ 

Roger Olley Fathers Plus 

• Being located within council offices helped 

the TPSS develop its services and draw 

upon mainstream funding. This allowed the 

young fathers worker post to become 

permanent, and the inclusive focus on 

fathers within the team become a stable 

part of their mainstream service provision 

for teenage parents. 

• The TPSS’s work with teenage fathers is 

primarily through one-to-one support. This 

is because experience has demonstrated 

that most young fathers have complex 

individual needs which cannot be 

addressed through ‘traditional’ fathers’ 

groups. 

• Providing housing and benefits support 

constitutes a large part of the TPSS’s 

provision for young mothers and young 

fathers, and is often the foremost reason 

young men access the services. However, 

once young men have accessed the 

service, the TPSS then try to engage them 

in other areas e.g. support around 

preparing to be a father. 

‘Young people are really desperate 

to have support around housing 

needs and benefits in the first 

instance - we are not saying that’s 

how it always is, but it’s often the first 

point of call.’ 

Contact: Rob Elkin (Young Fathers 

Worker) or Susan Reddington (Service 

Manager), Tel: +44 (0)1482 336 380 



28 

✱ TOP TIP ✱ 

Developed by Fathers Direct, the Fatherhood Quality Mark 

(FQM) is a new government-backed initiative designed to help 

services meet the requirements of the Children’s National Service Framework 

(NSF). The Children’s NSF requires primary care trusts, local authorities, and 

children’s services to provide targeted information to all fathers and to gain skills, 

through training, to work with fathers. The FQM is awarded to services meeting 

these new standards. 

The FQM can help service 

providers for (young) fathers, 

to be more strategic in their 

work by assisting them in 

fulfilling statutory 

responsibilities, implementing 

key government guidelines 

(e.g. Engaging Fathers 

guidelines, DfES, 2004), 

improving services, and 

achieving recognition of quality. 

The FQM system also 

validates what services are 

already doing (if appropriate), 

and helps services to plan and 

develop more effective 

strategies for the future, which 

are then externally assessed. 

The FQM works in three 

strategic stages with full 

support from Fathers Direct 

who work alongside and offer 

information, mentoring, and 

staff training at all stages: 

1. Review - Examination of 

existing policies and 

procedures 

2. Development - Plan and 

implement an effective 

strategy for change 

3. Validation - External 

assessment and validation 

of services 

Contact: David Bartlett 

(Services Manager) 

Tel: +44 (0)1422 847 825 

www.fathersdirect.com 


infocus 

Working Together 

Lewisham Teenage Pregnancy ‘Virtual’ 

Team, and the Lewisham Young Fathers 

Project – The Lewisham ‘virtual’ team in South 

London operates as a multi-agency initiative 

working to provide holistic support packages for 

teenagers parents-to-be (mums and dads). The 

team consists of a core group with other 

professionals being involved from time to time: 

• a development officer and young parents 

support worker 

• two teenage pregnancy midwives 

• an education re-integration officer 

• a Connexions Personal Advisor (PA) and an 

education admissions and monitoring officer 

• a young fathers worker 

• a Patchwork (supported housing organisation) 

floating support worker 

• a social worker (advice for team intervention 

support for young people) 

• a National Childminding Association (NCMA) 

representative for young parents 16+ in need of 

childcare. 

Each organisation accommodates and pays for 

their own member of staff. The ‘virtual’ team has 

developed joint policies, protocols and a referral 

form for use across agencies. When a teenager is 

referred to the team, one staff member will carry 

out a needs assessment and then refer to the 

most appropriate team member to deal with the 

most pressing issue. A package of support is then 

developed so the young person’s identified needs 

A further example of integrated 

practice comes from the Teenage 

Pregnancy ‘Virtual’ Team based in 

Lewisham, South London. Working 

with Men (WWM) directly linemanages 

the team’s young fathers 

worker. In this way, both the team and 

WWM can benefit from shared 

learning and experience (see in Focus). 

can be addressed. The team meets twice a month 

to review cases and to discuss core business. 

Work carried out with teenage parents is inputted 

into one shared database. This facilitates 

information exchange within the team and data 

collection for a clearer picture of the needs of 

teenage parents in Lewisham. 

Young Fathers Worker 

The Lewisham Young Fathers Project was created 

to help local young fathers acknowledge the 

importance of being a dad, and to develop selfconfidence 

as young men and as fathers. As part 

of the ‘virtual’ team, the Young Fathers Worker 

aims to provide young men with a broad package 

of advice and support as required. This support 

includes mediation work with families, sex and 

relationship education, parenting skills, and other 

advice as required by individuals to help improve 

the outcomes with their children. Most young 

fathers who currently access the project are aged 

16-18 although four are over 25 years because 

they have teenage partners. In the previous year 

50 young fathers have been referred to the project 

by other agencies or self-referrals, of which 30 are 

presently active cases. 


• Dissemination of promising practice and 

learning across professional groups is a highly 

effective means of capitalising on the range of 

skills and experiences within the ‘virtual’ team. 

• Regular meetings help the team continually 

reflect and evaluate working practices. 

• Strong outreach work including youth clubs, 

hostels, and mother and baby units are essential 

routes to successfully engaging with young 

fathers. 

• Integration and joint working with other services 

in the Lewisham area (e.g. Sure Start and 

Connexions) has been a particularly effective 

way of promoting, and meeting the needs young 

fathers in the South London area. 

Contact: Owen Thomas (Young Fathers 

Worker), Tel: +44 (0)207 237 5353

4 

Examples of PROMISING PRACTICE 

young fathers work 

Talking about young fathers work can appear abstract unless we shed 

light on exactly what it involves. In our research it became clear that 

there is little information detailing what young fathers work actually is. In 

this section we present some 

examples of the kinds of activities 

organisations do in their work with 


Service delivery 

Young fathers work is wideranging 

often involving a variety 

of delivery methods including 

one-to-one, group work, fixed-term 

programmes, peer support, and more 

mixed approaches that may combine 

elements of each. The specific activities 

that constitute young fathers work 

depends on a number of factors such 

as the specific aims and focus of the 

work, funding stipulations, the needs 

and diversity of young fathers, and the 

method or style of service delivery 

adopted. 

One-to-one work 

A number of practitioners we spoke to 

used one-to-one approaches with 

young fathers. This would sometimes 

include building on the skills and 

strengths of the young men through 

conversation and dialogue before 

moving on to other methods of service 

delivery e.g. informal group sessions 

and peer support. For example, the 

Specialist Learning Mentor for 

Teenage Fatherhood located within the 

Health Initiatives Teem at Education 

Leeds, initially works with school-age 

fathers on a one-to-one basis, before 

moving to involvement in a weekly 

group session once presenting 

problems have been dealt with. In 

other cases one-to-one work is the 

main basis of service delivery. For 

example, the TPSS in Hull, and Fathers 

First in the Isle of Wight use 

exclusively individual approaches with 

the young fathers they work with. 

One-to-one support often involves 

working with presenting issues 

identified by the young father as their 

most pressing concerns. It is therefore 

normally led by the agendas of the 

young men and may involve visiting 

them in their homes, meeting on 

‘neutral’ ground or meeting in 

specifically designated locations (e.g. 

project offices). Individual needs are 

established and work involves helping 

the young father to achieve their 

separate objectives. Practical advice 

relating to housing, benefits, 

education, employment, and legal 

issues may be offered initially before 

leading to more emotional support and 

fatherhood work. See In Focus (next 

page) for some examples of one-to-one 

work. 

‘He (the project 

worker) keeps 

in touch between 

appointments to 

see how I am 

doing, that’s just 

good service. 

It’s nice to be 

thought of.’ 

Young father, London 


Examples of Young Fathers Work 

infocus infocus 

Examples of One-to-One Work 

The Life Planning Game – Devised by Base 

25, this tool is particularly useful to help young 

fathers understand their current situations, past 

histories, and identify plans for the future. It 

uses a board game format as the structure for 

weekly individual sessions (although it can 

also be used with couples and in group 

settings), allowing the young person to work 

through the issues that are important to them. 

Full details are available from ContinYou 

(2005a). 

Fathers First, Isle of Wight – Run in 

partnership with the Youth Service, local 

midwives, and the Connexions Service, Fathers 

First is connected with the Mobile Youth 

Initiative (MYI) which runs in isolated rural 

areas of the Isle of Wight. The MYI realised 

they were not reaching young fathers in rural 

areas and therefore set-up plans to deliver a 

parenting group for young fathers through the 

mobile bus. The bus is a fully equipped mobile 

youth centre that visits isolated areas of the 

30 

Examples of Group Work 

Sure Start, Berwick-upon-Tweed - The 

Sure Start Borough outreach team is colocated 

at Wooler Fire Station but also 

operates out of a number of satellite venues 

across the borough. Jan Marshall (midwife) 

runs ante-natal classes for (young) fathers-tobe 

in rural Northumberland. Sessions are held 

in the evening to accommodate working 

hours, and held at the local maternity 

department. Personal invitations to fathers-tobe 

are given during ante-natal home visits to 

engage fathers early in the process. The 

group is needs led and starts by asking the 

fathers what they want from the sessions. 


island and is available for young people aged 

13-19 years. However, through a consultation 

process with agencies and young people, it 

was realised that teenage fathers wanted oneto-one 

intensive support rather than group 

based work. Consequently, holistic, flexible, 

and intensive individual support is now 

provided for around 36 young fathers meeting 

them in an environment of their choice, or 

wherever they feel safe and comfortable. 

‘We meet young fathers wherever 

they feel safe or comfortable, it 

might be in their own home, at a 

park, whatever suits them - we 

travel to them.’ 

One-to-one support is totally needs led, 

starting from the young fathers agenda. In the 

first instance, support usually relates to nonparenting 

issues (e.g. housing, employment, 

substance misuse, relationships, learning 

difficulties, legal issues etc.) but will move on 

to parenting support when the presenting 

issues have been dealt with. Support is wideranging 

and extensive; however, some specific 

examples include: 

• Initial assessment and identification of 

support needs through discussion and 

dialogue. This discussion is built into a 

written contract that stipulates the issues 

that are to be worked on, which the young 

father then signs his agreement to. 

• All one-to-one sessions are recorded and 

reviewed. This has two purposes: 1) to 

protect the young father and staff member, 

and 2) to provide a record of work and 

progress that can be reviewed by the staff 

A number of specific activities designed to 

stimulate discussion and learning about 

pregnancy and fatherhood include: 

• creating a ‘things to do list’ ready for the 

birth and afterwards 

• ice breaking activities (e.g. sharing due 

dates, proposed names of babies, hopes 

about being a father etc.) 

• providing handouts on specific advice for 

expecting fathers (e.g. what to bring to the 

birth, ways of supporting his partner etc.) 

• providing lists of useful websites and 

contact details 

• information handouts on pregnancy and 

breast feeding 

• exercises on ‘hopes’ and ‘fears’ about 

fatherhood 

• practical activities on money, respective 

parenting roles, sexual issues, and social 

needs 

• discussion of feelings about pregnancy and 

fatherhood 

• information on child development such as 

what babies can and can’t do. 

Contact: Jan Marshall (Midwife), 

Tel: +44 (0)1668 283 372 

and young person to identify ‘distance 

travelled’, and identify new targets. 

• Development of positive parenting skills – 

This may involve discussions (e.g. relating to 

babies’ developmental stages, and the 

importance of interaction and contact), 

paper-based activities (e.g. using handouts 

giving basic information on health and 

safety, or hygiene), and practical hands-on 

activities (e.g. making baby food or visiting 

local shops to explore different kinds of 

baby foods and nappies). 

• Building of confidence and esteem – This 

occurs through the support process rather 

than specific activities or work per se. 

Confidence and esteem are built through 

developing trust and positive working 

relationships with the young father. 

• Learning and employment support – This 

may involve support with filling in job 

applications, writing CVs, providing ideas on 

where and how to look for jobs (e.g. with a 

visit to the job centre), practicing interview 

skills, and so on. 

‘Individual support is totally led by the 

young father, we make sure he knows 

he will not be judged and that we are 

there for them – we look at the 

individual holistically and let them 

know that they can use our support 

for any area of their lives, not just 

parenting.’ 

Contact: Dee Makin (Senior Youth and 

Community Worker), 

Tel: +44 (0)1983 856 640 

Hartcliffe and Withywood Teenage 

Parents Project (TPP), Bristol - The TPP 

operate with young parents and young 

parents-to-be in one of the most 

disadvantaged areas of Bristol. The project is 

open five days-a-week and work with young 

fathers is supported by a grant from the Big 

Lottery Fund. Young fathers aged 13-25 years 

are able to attend, and the aim of the group is 

to help develop meaningful relationships 

between father and child. Group work and 

activities include: 

• music production sessions 

• breakfast sessions where young fathers are 

introduced to a variety of professionals such 

as health visitors, dental nurses, and drug 

workers 

• baby massage 

• first aid sessions 

• basic literacy skills 

• food and Hygiene certificate 

• residential workshops to build confidence 

(including mountain biking, camping, 

building shelters, and cooking) 

• support with housing issues. 

Contact: Mark Newman 

(Fathers Development Worker) 

Tel: +44 (0)117 978 4401

infocus 

Examples of Peer Support 

DeVeloping Dads (DVD), Rotherham – The 

DVD project aimed to encourage young fathers 

(16-25 years) to play a greater role in the lives of 

their children by raising their awareness of the 

crucial part they can play in their child's 

upbringing. DVD’s worker Nigel Rose delivered 

preventative sexual health work during SRE lessons 

in local schools, with young fathers providing peer 

support to pupils: 

‘We took our young dads into schools 

and delivered peer support – we talked 

about the experience of what it is like for 

them to be young dads, and talk about 

being at the birth and things like that. It 

was a good chance for pupils to see the 

realities of being a young dad and ask 

questions.’ 

Contact: David Sargent (Chief Executive, 

Chantry YMCA), Tel: +44 (0)1709 720 040 

Group work 

Group work with young fathers can 

offer the chance for young men to 

meet other young fathers, work on 

parenting skills, share experiences, 

develop confidence, explore fatherhood 

issues and so on. As we discuss in the 

next section, a number of projects and 

organisations successfully use group 

based approaches to deliver support 

for young fathers. Group work can be 

an extremely useful and cost effective 

tool (see In Focus on opposite page) 

but it is important to recognise its 

limitations as well. 

Peer support 

Many projects and organisations 

encourage young fathers to provide 

help and support to their peers in 

appropriate and responsible ways. 

This approach often develops from 

group work and can strengthen the 

Health Initiatives Team, Leeds – The Health 

Initiatives Team at Education Leeds has recently 

received a Teenage Pregnancy Implementation 

Grant to help set-up a peer education project. The 

team has recruited a group of volunteers from the 

many young parents that the Specialist Learning 

Mentors have supported over the past few years. 

These volunteers all became young mother or 

young fathers whilst at school and now want to 

give other young people in Leeds a chance to 

learn about the realities of teenage parenthood. 

The volunteers are currently taking part in a six 

week training programme, designed to equip them 

with the skills and confidence to go into schools to 

talk to pupils about their experiences and about 

how teenage parenthood has shaped their lives. 

From September 2006, schools will be offered the 

opportunity to enrich their Year 9 PSHE curriculum 

by inviting the peer educators into class as part of 

an appropriately planned programme. 

Contact: Jenny Midwinter 

(Sexual Health Initiatives Coordinator), 

Tel: +44(0)113 395 1215 

Barrow Dads’ Group, Barrow-in-Furness – 

Working in five Wards of Barrow in Cumbria, 

Barrow Dads’ Group(s) aim to enable fathers to 

develop positive relationships with their children. 

Fathers who live locally run all the groups, with 

many group members also helping out as 

volunteers (some of whom have gone on to 

complete training and now work for Sure Start). 

Contact: Dave Morrison (Community Support 

Manager), Tel: +44 (0)1229 871 480 

services offered. Peer support varies in 

levels of formality from a casual 

conversation to more dedicated help 

where supporters are formally trained 

to assist their peers. Peer support can 

have a number of advantages to the 

young father offering the support, the 

young father receiving the help, and 

the project or organisation itself. For 

example, young people are often in a 

position to elicit rich insights from 

their peers who may feel more relaxed 

and open talking to them than they 

might talking to professionals. Peer 

support can also create opportunities 

for young people to develop 

confidence and a range of new skills, 

whilst also helping to ensure that 

services are accessible and ‘youngfather 

friendly’. However, it is 

important to remember that peer 

support does have cost implications as 

supporters require training, support, 

and supervision themselves. 


✱ TOP TIP 

✱ Young People and 

Peer Support: How to set 

up a peer support 

programme by Marilyn 

McGowan, TSA. 

This manual by Marilyn 

McGowan gives practical 

advice and guidance on how 

to set up a peer support 

programme. Although not 

aimed specifically at young 

fathers, it describes how to 

set up a support 

infrastructure, allocate roles 

and responsibilities, recruit 

and train young people, 

promote the scheme, and 

evaluate progress. With a 

specific focus on the school 

context, the manual may be 

particularly suitable for those 

wanting to set-up peer 

support through Sex and 

Relationship Education (SRE) 

programmes. 

The manual is available 

from TSA publications 

www.tsa.uk.com/ 

publications 


Examples of Young Fathers Work 

infocus 

Example of a Fixed-Term 

Programme 

A Dad’s Point of View, Taunton 

Somerset’s Teenage Pregnancy 

Coordinator initiated a young fathers art 

project that took place with a number of 

young fathers across rural Somerset. The 

work was part of a South West arts 

project that focussed on young fathers, 

and had two main aims: 

1) to raise the self-esteem of young 

fathers, and to counter negative 

stereotypes about young fathers and 

parenting, and; 

32 


2) to raise awareness of the needs of 

young fathers among the general public. 

Over the course of six months, young 

fathers were encouraged to use 

photography as a medium to explore their 

experiences of fatherhood. Young fathers 

were taught basic photographic 

techniques and lent digital cameras to 

capture images of their lives and 

relationships with their children. They also 

had their photograph taken with their 

children and the work was collated into a 

published booklet. The booklet has since 

been widely disseminated with the 

photographs being exhibited at the South 

West ‘DADS’ exhibition in Bristol (2004), 

and framed copies are on display in local 

maternity units. The photographs have 

also been made into an interactive DVD 

where viewers can click on the 

photographs to hear the young fathers 

talking about their experiences. 

Contact: Julie Husband (Teenage 

Pregnancy Coordinator, Somerset), 

Tel: +44 (0)1823 357 988 

Fixed-term 

programmes 

‘Fixed-term’ programmes are usually 

developed to deal with very specific 

aspects of fatherhood and personal 

development, and may be time-related 

i.e. a pre-determined number of 

sessions or time period. For example, 

as part of the South West Arts Project 

focussing on young fathers, ‘A dad’s 

point of view’ used photography to 

explore young men’s experiences of 

fatherhood and produce a booklet to 

highlight their thoughts, feelings and 

experiences on what it means to be a 

father (see In Focus). 

Mixed approaches 

Mixed approaches to young fathers 

work encompassing a variety of 

delivery methods such as one-to-one, 

group, peer support etc, are likely to 

be more effective and reach more 

young fathers than singular 

approaches. 

In practice, although some projects 

and agencies delivering services adopt 

singular approaches to their work with 

young fathers, the majority take up at 

least some elements of mixed working 

e.g. the Young Fathers Project in 

Milton Keynes, M.A.P in Norwich, 

Base 25 in Wolverhampton, Lewisham 

Young Fathers Project, B2b+ in 

Sunderland, and UKdadsposse and the 

Potential Project in Oxford (the next 

section provides some examples).

5 

Individual, group 

and mixed approaches 

‘I STILL GET THE SENSE THAT THERE IS A NOTION THAT THE 

FIRST STEP TO ENGAGING YOUNG DADS IS "TO SET UP A 

GROUP". THIS ASSUMPTION NEEDS TO BE CHALLENGED.’ 

(Lowe, 2006) 

KEY QUESTIONS 

Some projects and agencies 

providing services for young 

fathers have been criticised for 

becoming too fixated on working in 

groups. Group work can be extremely 

valuable and have many advantages in 

delivering services for young fathers. 

However, it is not universally 

appealing and can exclude and alienate 

some young men. Rather than being 

used as a matter of course, the 

potential benefits of group work need 

to considered and weighed carefully 

against potential pitfalls and 

alternative one-to-one or mixed model 

approaches. 

Working with five project sites around 

England, TSA’s Young Fathers Project 

(Mordaunt, 2005) generated in-depth 

understandings of group work in order 

to help young fathers projects to plan 

when group work would be valuable, 

and when it should be avoided. The 

research elicited a number of 

important learning points (see In 

Focus, next page). 


• Which mode of delivery 

(individual, group, or mixed) 

will best suit your client 

group? 

• What training needs does this 

choice of delivery present for 

workers? 

• What barriers may prevent the 

successful use of group work 

(e.g. time, space, venue, aims 

of the group etc.)? How will 

you overcome these? 

• What are the financial 

implications for delivering 

young fathers support through 

one-to-one, group, or mixed 

approaches? 


Individual, Group, and Mixed Approaches 

infocus 

A number of projects and services we 

spoke to reported successfully using 

group based approaches in their work 

with young fathers. Amongst others, 

these include the Great Yarmouth 

Young Men’s Project, Brighton and 

Hove Young Fathers Project, Base 25 

in Wolverhampton, a fathers-to-be 

group in Berwick-upon-Tweed (run by 

a Northumberland midwife), Barrow 

Dads’ Group in Barrow-in-Furness, 

Boys2Men in London, T-BAG in 

Halifax, UKdadsposse and the 

Potential Project in Oxford, M.A.P in 

Norwich, and DVD in Rotherham. 

Whilst some of these projects use 

group work as their core approach 

(e.g. T-BAG), most of those listed 

above adopt more mixed models of 

working in which group work is 

combined with more individualistic 

methods. Such mixed models can 

provide a great deal of flexibility in 

service delivery (see In Focus). 

34 

Using Group Approaches 

“It’s not that you can’t do an awful lot 

without running a group, but you can 

do an awful lot in a group.” 

[trainer from the YFP] 

TSA’s Young Fathers Project (YFP) - TSA’s 

YFP set out to develop, test, and evaluate an 

approach for working with young fathers who 

were either disengaged or socially excluded. 

The project was directed at young vulnerable 

fathers from different ethnic groups in urban 


and rural settings. Site locations included 

Birmingham (Top Dads), London (Newpin), 

Newcastle (Fathers Plus), Norwich (Mancroft 

Advice Project), and Sheffield (Father Figures). 

Each site located within a host voluntary 

organisation, was expected to work with over 

50 young fathers aged under 25, of whom 

more than 15 would be teenagers, by 

developing a programme combining group 

work, one-to-one work, and peer support. 

The programmes were to help the young 

fathers consider their personal attitudes and 

behaviour as men and fathers, while improving 

their life skills and practical child care skills. 

Findings revealed a number of significant 

benefits to using group work in services for 

young fathers: 

• young fathers can develop confidence as a 

sense of security and relationships develop 

• peer support can be developed 

• young fathers are not totally dependent on 

the group leader 

• isolation of individual young fathers can be 

broken down 

infocus 

Mixed Models of Working 

Mancroft Advice Project (M.A.P.), 

Norwich - M.A.P. currently works with young 

fathers through a mix of one-to-one work and 

group activities. It is a free independent 

information, advice, and counselling service 

for young people aged 11 to 25yrs. Provision 

includes a drop-in for young fathers, practical 

advice and information, skills development, 

and support for issues relating to being 

young men as well as young fathers. Other 

services include advice on housing, benefits 

and advocacy, a children and young peoples 

rights worker, a young fathers worker, free 

pregnancy testing, free condoms, a 

Connexions drop-in, and counselling service. 


‘Our work combines the informality 

of a drop-in with the formality of 

doing a focused group activity, it’s all 

combined in one so that the 

boundaries between the one-to-one 

• sometimes preferred by some young fathers 

over more intense one-to-one contact 

• group members can sometimes develop 

more quickly in a limited space of time 

• information can be delivered to many rather 

than individually. 

In addition, a number of key characteristics for 

successful group work with young fathers were 

evident including: 

• a critical number of core members need to 

be recruited to form a viable group 

• groups must be held at a convenient time, 

place, and venue accepting of the client 

group 

• group sessions should operate regularly each 

week or fortnight 

• promotion material should state whether 

children are welcome 

• groups should be monitored to avoid 

possible alienation and/or marginalisation of 

individuals 

• groups should be run by at least two 

workers, a facilitator and a co-facilitator with 

suitable training and background. 

Contact: TSA, Tel +44 (0)1273 693311 

and group sessions become much 

more blurred.’ 

• Group work can mean it is difficult to meet 

individual needs. Whilst some young 

fathers may be involved with their children 

and want to work on practical aspects of 

parenting, others may have no contact and 

thus want to focus on very different issues. 

A mix of individual and group based 

approaches means workers are able to 

respond more flexibly to young fathers, by 

utilising the drop-in where one-to-one work 

can take place, but also conducting 

structured pieces of work with those that 

are in attendance (e.g. a group activity on 

parent craft or working on the production 

of a CD-ROM about being a father). 

• The youth work model is an effective way 

of delivering support for some young 

fathers. Moving between informal and 

more formal styles of working seems to 

suit the young men as opposed to more 

single structured approaches (e.g. such as 

a 6 week course). 

• M.A.P. has found that a mixed approach to 

young fathers work can help engage 

young fathers, as it is likely to be more 

suitable for greater numbers of young 

men. M.A.P currently works regularly with 

approximately 20 young fathers who attend 

the drop-in on a weekly basis. 

Contact: Andy Wood (Young Fathers 

Worker), Tel: +44 (0)1603 766 994

The other projects and agencies 

interviewed for this research identified 

one-to-one work as the main basis of 

their work with young fathers. This 

usually took the form of drop-in style 

support sessions where young fathers 

can access a number of support 

services at one time (and usually in 

one location). Although purely 

individualistic approaches can be a 

costly method of service delivery, they 

can provide tailor-made support. 

Moreover, they may be accessible to 

more young fathers particularly those 

who may lack confidence, and feel too 

emotionally vulnerable to want to 

work publicly in groups (at least initially). 

Ladz 2 Dadz in Northamptonshire 

tell us that adopting one-to-one 

approaches (as opposed to group 

work) can help to avoid ‘lion-cub’ type 

scenarios where young men in group 

situations may feel defensive and be 

unable to talk about the emotional 

aspects of their lives: 

‘It’s difficult for them [young fathers] to 

be emotive in a group - we stay away 

from groups because of the "lion-cub" 

aspect to them where some young men 

become competitive and macho… They 

need individually tailored support 

packages, that are just for them.’ 

Working with young fathers from 

South London, Lewisham Young 

Fathers Project works with young men 

on an individual basis to provide 

broad support packages of 

information and advice as required. 

The support is flexible and wide 

ranging, and aims to help local young 

fathers develop confidence as young 

men and fathers, as well as improve 

their relationships with their children. 

Similarly, Fathers First on the Isle of 

Wight provides individual support for 

young fathers that is holistic, flexible, 

and adaptable to individual needs. 

Work is needs-led and depends on the 

presenting issue, but also includes 

confidence and esteem building, 

parenting skills, child development, 

sexual health, and learning 

opportunities. 

The TPSS in Hull prefer not to use 

group work with young fathers, and 

instead use exclusively one-to-one 

approaches. The team report that this 

is due to a number of reasons some 

practical (e.g. lack of space) but mostly 

more strategically related. One reason 

is that individual approaches allow 

services to respond more quickly and 

easily to the complex needs a very 

young father (e.g. school-age) may 

have. Individual approaches also mean 


‘EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT US THAT MOST YOUNG FATHERS 

HAVE VERY COMPLEX INDIVIDUAL NEEDS - NEEDS WHICH 

SIMPLY CANNOT BE ADDRESSED THROUGH "TRADITIONAL" 

FATHERS GROUP SETTINGS.’ 



young parents themselves can be 

flexible in how they access service 

provision; as a couple, individually, or 

a mixture of both. Young fathers 

accessing the TPSS services, typically 

present non-parenting support issues 

such as housing, education, benefits, 

and exclusion. Consequently, the team 

report that with such a ‘mixed bag’ of 

support needs, group work is just not 

appropriate. However, the team do 

sometimes refer young fathers to local 

fathers groups if the young man 

requests it, or if the team feels he may 

benefit from group interactions (such 

as experiencing peer support or 

developing confidence). 

36 



‘… I felt a real pressure to create a group for young fathers 

to get together, it felt like a distraction… I am now doing 

group work and looking forward to it, but only because it 

is based on earlier one-to-one work.’ 

✱ Practitioners need to challenge the assumption that ‘group work’ is always 

best and consider the significant benefits of one-to–one work or mixed 

approaches with young fathers. The TPSS in Hull have found that group 

work is simply not appropriate to meet the needs of the youngest fathers 

who access their services. The TPSS say that individual approaches are 

vital in meeting the complex and multifaceted needs (including emotional) 

that the youngest fathers often present. 

✱ Group work is often conducted on the fringes of a project’s main activity 

with little or no attempt to mainstream the work. Projects and agencies 

delivering services for young fathers need to consider carefully the purpose 

and benefits group work may have over other individualistic approaches. 

✱ To increase the likelihood of successful outcomes and sustain engagement 

with young fathers, group work programmes need to be adaptable and 

negotiated with the young fathers in sessions using a mixture of approaches 

and activities. In the ante-natal group for fathers-to-be provided by Sure 

Start in rural Northumberland, negotiation concerning the aims and content 

of the individual group sessions is a regular aspect of the work. 

✱ Group work can achieve different outcomes from one-to-one work. A mixed 

approach to fathers work, combining basic information, support, and advice 

alongside the exploration of issues and attitudes connected to fatherhood, is 

likely to attract greater numbers of young men. M.A.P. in Norwich 

successfully adopted a mixed approach to working with young fathers 

meaning they can offer a wide range of flexible support to young fathers.

Bringing younger and 

older fathers together 

One issue that arose when talking 

to a few projects and agencies 

about approaches to delivering 

young fathers work (particularly those 

using elements of group working), was 

whether fathers work should be agerelated 

or differentiated in order to be 

most effective. In other words, can 

young fathers and older young fathers 

(say in their mid 20s and older) benefit 

mutually from participating together? 

If so, what issues does this raise for 

each age group? 

Although we cannot resolve such 

questions here, it is useful to think 

about the implications they may have 

for young fathers work. As might be 

expected, the findings from our 

research are mixed. Some practitioners 

we spoke to suggested that although 

younger and older fathers may have 

diverse support needs, group work 

that mixes ages can work as each agegroup 

supports the other in different 

ways. For example, DVD in 

Rotherham found that ‘being a dad’ 

was enough to allow the group to 

work successfully together: 

‘You might be 17,18 and have three or 

four kids. You might get a dad that’s at 

30 who is on his first. So, this 17 year 

old lad will support that older person 

becoming a dad, and the older dad can 

support that individual about life 

experiences… I don’t think they really 

saw age as an issue - they looked at 

coming together because they’ve got a 

common goal - they’re all dads. They’ve 

all got different circumstances, but 

they’re all dads.’ 

However, the most common view from 

our research (and others) seems to 

suggest that for the youngest fathers, 

some form of age-differentiated 

approach may be most suitable. For 

instance, the TPSS in Hull said that in 

their view, the needs of the very 


‘We quickly 

realised that 

because 

young fathers 

as a group are 

so diverse - 

they can be so 

young, they 

can be 14 and 

like a rabbit in 

headlights - 

really, really 

scared. Or 

they can be 

over 20. You 

can’t mix the 

two together, 

they have such 

different 

needs.’ 



38 


youngest fathers are simply too far 

apart from older fathers to bring them 

together in a meaningful way. 

Furthermore, evidence from TSA’s 

young fathers project (Mordaunt, 

2005), suggests that young fathers 

have a range of needs specific to their 

age and maturity which can often best 

be met by a more age-related 

approach. The findings showed that 

for young men in the 17-19 age 

groups, developing fathering skills was 

not high on their agendas, particularly 

during their initial engagement with 

the project. However, as the presenting 

concerns of employment, education, 

contact with their children, child 

protection, or housing were addressed, 

then some gradually became more 

involved in fatherhood issues. 

What this suggests is that for the 

youngest fathers (e.g. school-age 

fathers), the ‘hooks’ used to draw them 

into a project or programme, will 

probably need to be different to those 

used to engage older fathers. Whilst 

group approaches may suit some older 

fathers, less formal youth work style 

approaches are likely to be more 

suitable for young fathers where 

outreach work can take place in their 

own territory or in neutral settings. 

However, Alan Seabrook (Young 

Men’s and Young Fathers Worker) 

from Brighton and Hove Young 

Fathers Project (BHYFP) tells us that it 

is important not to ‘throw the baby 

out with the bath water’. He suggests 

that bringing young and older fathers 

together to do ‘fathers work’ can 

be successful in very specific 

circumstances such as ante-natal 

classes. In such situations, younger and 

older young fathers are likely to be 

there for the same reasons (e.g. 

information and advice relating to 

pregnancy and birth), and if a young 

fathers worker is present, then further 

individual work can take place outside 

of the classes to address other more 

specific presenting issues if required.

6 

Young PROMISING PRACTICE 

fathers workers 

In this section we explore a number 

of issues relating to practitioners 

who work with young fathers. Our 

research tells us that where there 

are dedicated young fathers posts, 

the workers tend to be men. We 

examine whether this is necessary 

and discuss the role of gender and 

ethnicity in delivering both specialist services (for fathers), and more 

generic mainstream services for parents. Finally, we present learning 

points regarding the skills practitioners need in order to work 

successfully with young fathers. 

Gender and ethnicity in practice 

Gender and ethnicity (of workers 

and clients) raises a number of 

key questions in relation to 

young fathers work. Although some 

women often express clear preferences 

in terms of the gender of workers (e.g. 

in health settings such as GP surgeries), 

this preference is often not quite as 

clear cut in relation to young men 

(Lloyd, 2001). T-BAG in Halifax tell 

us that their teenage fathers usually 

prefer to confide with the female 

workers, rather than the male worker. 

Similarly, the Health Initiatives Team 

at Education Leeds (working with 

school-age fathers) reported that the 

young men who attend the after-school 

group (FACT), tend to develop strong 

connections with the female nursery 

nurses. Both projects proposed that it 

may be the ‘maternal’ aspect young 

men were responding positively to, but 

also asserted that young fathers 

respected the knowledge and expertise 

these women bring to the work. 

Such findings challenge the often 

unspoken assumption that individuals 

working with young fathers should 

necessarily be male (and fathers 

themselves). They also challenge the 

idea that there is a need to create 

dedicated young fathers workers posts 

(filled by men) in mainstream services. 

However, there is perhaps an 

important caveat here in that without 

dedicated young fathers worker posts, 

it is perhaps likely that the impetus for 

change in championing work with 

young fathers, has the potential to fall 

by the wayside. In our research, 

practitioners views were fairly 

‘It doesn’t 

have to be a 

fella. It’s not 

about it being 

a man. It’s 

about 

somebody 

being 

dedicated to 

that role.’ 

‘…AS LONG AS THEY [THE WORKER] ARE GENUINELY 

CONCERNED, CARES, AND CAN SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM, 

I DON’T THINK GENDER MATTERS.’ 


Young Fathers Workers 

40 

KEY 

QUESTIONS 

• How might the gender or 

ethnicity of a worker impact 

on the success of young 

fathers work? 

• How can pervasive and 

traditional constructions of 

masculinity be challenged by 

practitioners working with 

young fathers? 

• Who is responsible for 

young fathers work? The 

dedicated worker or a wholeteam 

approach? 

• If an individual working with 

young fathers is male, do 

they also need to be a 

father? 

• What do the above 

questions mean for the 

recruitment of staff working 

with young fathers? What 

role might positive action 

play in this process? 


unanimous, with most suggesting that 

whilst gender is important, it doesn’t 

necessarily mean individuals working 

with young fathers should be male. 

Many of those interviewed affirmed 

that women can and do work 

successfully with young men around 

fathering issues, and that young 

fathers do not always wish to work 

with other men. This was seen as 

partly due to homophobia (e.g. 

worries about being perceived as gay 

for working ‘too closely’ with another 

man), but also because many young 

men prefer to talk to women about 

issues such as relationships and child 

care as they see them as more qualified 

in these areas. 

Overall, the projects and organisations 

we spoke to overwhelmingly agreed 

that it is the skills and attitudes of the 

worker that is more important than 

their gender. Being welcoming and 

‘there for them’, approachable, 

knowledgeable, sensitive, reliable, and 

positive about fatherhood were said to 

be qualities that are more important 

than whether the worker is male or 

female. Nevertheless, some projects 

also said that a male presence is 

desirable in support services intended 

for young parents and that in some 

cases, this means creating a dedicated 

young fathers worker post. For 

example, Fathers Plus in Newcastle 

and the Upfront Team in Bradford feel 

it is important for male workers to be 

more visible in services for young 

parents. In this way, projects can begin 

to confront perceptions that such 

services are primarily for women, and 

help prevent young men feeling 

services for parents are not for them. 

Moreover, Lewisham Young Fathers 

Project and the Health Initiatives Team 

at Education Leeds told us that a male 

fathers worker can offer significant 

influence in helping to challenge 

ingrained perspectives and attitudes of 

other professionals about young 

fathers, by offering an alternative ‘side 

of the coin’ in team or wider strategy 

meetings. 

‘Some 

professionals 

don’t see a lot of 

positives in young 

men… it’s 

important that 

whoever’s in this 

[fathers worker] 

role challenges 

that. It can be 

uncomfortable as 

it might challenge 

somebody on the 

same team… but 

there’s a need to 

ask those 

awkward 

questions to 

move a situation 

forward.’

It is likely that the best arrangement is 

probably to have both male and female 

workers co-operating and engaging 

with, and available to, young fathers 

(Burgess and Bartlett, 2004). Indeed, 

DVD in Rotherham emphasised that 

having male and female workers can 

be useful in that it gives young fathers 

the choice of who supports them, but 

also allows modelling of male/female 

co-operation which some families may 

not have witnessed. 

We also asked projects and 

organisations about the role a worker’s 

ethnicity might play in their work with 

young fathers. Responses were along 

similar lines to that of gender, in that it 

was a worker’s skills and attitudes that 

were more important than ethnicity 

per se (see also ContinYou, 2005a, 

2005b; Lloyd, 2001). However, two 

projects specifically reported that the 

ethnicity of young fathers workers had 

been an important factor in recruiting 

and engaging Asian young men in their 

local areas. For example, workers 

from Upfront and West Bowling Sure 

Start in Bradford, told us that being 


South Asian in an area with a large 

Pakistani and Bangladeshi population 

had been key in developing 

relationships with young men and 

understanding the cultural barriers 

preventing some young fathers from 

accessing services. Language skills (e.g. 

the ability to speak Urdu, Punjabi, as 

well as English), knowledge of local 

communities and religions, and 

understanding of cultural sensitivities 

were all thought to be central in 

developing and delivering services, and 

helping young fathers to access these 

services. 

The boys2MEN project has 

emphasised the benefits having suitably 

experienced African Caribbean workers 

brings to work with black young 

people including ‘positive rolemodelling’. 

Indeed, the Top Dads 

Project in Birmingham (Mordaunt, 

2005) attributed its success in 

engaging African-Caribbean young 

men as largely being due to the 

personal credibility of the project 

worker, a prominent figure in the local 

African-Caribbean community. 


✱ The specific influences gender and ethnicity may have in terms of engaging and delivering support for young fathers, are likely to be 

complex. In some cases, it may be helpful to strategically recruit staff in order to take such factors into account. For example, projects 

and services in Lewisham and Bradford have both emphasised strongly the positive impacts worker gender and ethnicity can have on 

the success of engaging with young fathers and young men. 

✱ The implicit assumption that practitioners working with young fathers should be male (including dedicated fathers workers), needs to 

be challenged. Although having a male presence can be very beneficial, and in some cases desirable (e.g. help to keep a focus on 

key issues for young fathers), this does not mean that women cannot, and do not work successfully with young men on fathering 

issues. Indeed, some of the most successful work with young fathers has been undertaken by women, and it is important to 

appreciate that female staff do not need to ‘wait for a man’ before engaging with fathers (Burgess, 2006b). 

✱ Ethnicity appears to be significant when it comes to reaching young men from BME groups. Skilled workers from similar ethnic 

backgrounds may appear to be more approachable in the first instance to the young men. The worker’s cultural knowledge and 

understanding may also enable him or her to ‘connect’ more easily with young people from minority ethnic groups. 



‘Young fathers 

work is not just 

the remit of the 

young fathers 

workers role - 

it is the whole 

team’s 

responsibility.’ 

42 


Worker skills and training 

TSA’s Young Fathers Project revealed a 

number of key characteristics for 

workers that seem to determine 

whether a project or organisation 

working with young fathers is likely to 

be successful. 

The Characteristics of Successful Fathers 

Workers 

Workers need to be: 

✱ proactive in creating initial contacts with referral agencies 

✱ determined to contact potential young fathers 

✱ constantly patient in making regular contact with clients 

✱ accessible to clients during the week by telephone (mobile and land-line) 

✱ based in a centre accessible to clients 

✱ approachable in the eyes of the young fathers 

✱ trained to work one-to-one and as a group facilitator 

✱ realistic in understanding boundaries of own expertise 

✱ able to refer on clients who need services beyond the scope of the project or service 

✱ espectful of clients but able to set boundaries of acceptable behaviour 

✱ willing to accept each client’s stage of development and work with it. 

Adapted from Mordaunt (2005) 

‘IF THERE’S ONE SKILL THAT MATTERS MORE THAN ALL THE 

OTHERS, IT’S THE ABILITY TO DEVELOP NETWORKS…’

Practitioners we spoke to confirmed 

many of the key characteristics 

reported by Mordaunt (2005). 

Similarly, ContinYou’s (2005b) Top 

Dads also identifies a number of 

qualities important for those working 

with young fathers. A number of 

workers told us that confidence and 

the ability to challenge other 

professionals is an important quality. 

Fathers Plus, the TPSS in Hull, 

Lewisham Young Fathers Project, and 

the Health Initiatives Team at 

Education Leeds all highlighted that 

challenging attitudes was an important 

skill to develop. Workers need to be 

able to promote the idea that young 

fathers work is not just the remit of the 

dedicated young fathers worker’s role, 

but is the whole team’s responsibility. 

They also need to be able to tackle 

fellow professionals who hold 

stereotypical negative views about 


Practitioners also told us that in order 

to encourage others to work with 

young fathers, individuals need 

appropriate training to ensure that it is 

done in a way that encourages a 

‘whole team’ approach to engaging 

routinely with mothers and fathers. 

Yet despite the obvious importance of 

staff training, TSA’s Young Fathers 

Project shows that it is frequently 

overlooked as time and budget 

pressures are focused on setting up the 

work, and then developing it. There 

are a number of key organisations that 

offer training for individuals working 

with young fathers. Details are 

provided in ‘Top Tips’. 

✱ TOP TIPS ✱ 


Trust for the Study of Adolescence (TSA) 

Offers training and conferences on a wide range of subjects including working with 

young fathers, working with young men, developing positive self-esteem in young 

people, developing training skills, and many more. Training courses can be tailored 

to specific requirements, or be designed from scratch to meet specific needs. 

The Working With Young Fathers course covers a number of areas including: 

✱ successful approaches to engaging young fathers 

✱ what’s happening where in England 

✱ what young fathers say about support 

✱ one-to-one and group work 

✱ peer support 

✱ being strategic 

✱ working with very young fathers 

✱ the worker gender debate. 

Contact: Lise Hansen or Sarah Lee (Training Co-ordinators), 

Tel. +44 (0)1273 771 249 or Website: www.tsa.uk.com 

Working With Men (WWM) 

Offers a range of training courses on working with boys and young men including 

masculinity, working with young fathers, what works with fathers, working with 

violence, boys and underachievement, managing work with boys, sexual health and 

young men, and more. WWM also run a programme of workshops which aim to 

benefit and equip professionals whose work impacts upon young people, especially 

boys and young men. 

Contact: Trefor Lloyd, Tel: +44 (0)20 7732 9409 or 

Website: www.workingwithmen.org/training 

Fathers Direct 

Run one, two, and three day courses on Working with Young Fathers. The courses 

can be run in-house, or for a consortium of local agencies. Amongst other things, the 

training aims to help participants: 

✱ understand young fathers’ roles in child development 

✱ examine attitudes and feelings towards young fathers 

✱ develop the confidence, knowledge and skills needed to encourage positive 

relationships between young fathers and their children 

✱ plan effective needs-led approaches 

✱ explore and develop strategies to overcome barriers in trying to integrate 

services for young fathers into mainstream provision 

✱ explore cultural and personal assumptions about men and fathers 

✱ learn key approaches and techniques in working with young fathers 

✱ reflect on working practices 

✱ examine ways of working in partnership with young mothers and the wider 

families of both the mother and father 

✱ learn how to stay well-informed and supported as work with young fathers 

develops. 

Tel: +44 (0)845 634 1328 or E-mail: training@fathersdirect.com 



44 


‘Some agencies can be overtly hostile to start with - not 

understanding - the ability to get inside and prove worth 

before the project’s actually delivered something, is 

absolutely vital.’ 

✱ It’s not the interrelation of gender, ethnicity, or age that matters in setting 

up and delivering effective support for young fathers, rather it is the skills 

of a worker that are important (though of course such skills partly flow 

from an individual’s background and experience). Practitioners require a 

broad range of transferable and specific skills in order to maximise 

potential successes. Sure Start in the West Bowling and Manningham 

areas of Bradford tell us that the ability of a practitioner to network and 

be able to explain the benefits of the work clearly to other professionals, 

are essential skills in young fathers work. 

✱ Workers do not necessarily need to be ‘experts’ in terms of their 

knowledge of parenting and other issues. Instead, it is important for 

workers to be realistic about their own boundaries and limitations, and 

be able to refer to appropriate ‘others’ as and when necessary. 

✱ A clear message from the literature (e.g. Quinton et al., 2002) is that many health professionals know little about young 

fathers, do not see them as central to their tasks, and feel that they lack the confidence and necessary skills to engage 

with young men. Because of the predominance of women in support services, it is likely that a number of these 

professionals will be women. However, it essential that in acknowledging the role and interplay of gender in delivering 

support for young fathers, this does not equate to a culture of blaming female workers. Instead, it is important to recognise 

that the prior professional experiences that many women have had often do not provide them with the relevant 

opportunities to work with young men. Consequently, there is a need to support female workers so they too are able to 

challenge negative beliefs about young fathers. Moreover, anti-discriminatory training that helps develop whole-team 

approaches which recognise young fathers as legitimate specialist and mainstream service users is also valuable. 


7 

Working with PROMISING PRACTICE 

other organisations 

In this section, we present some examples of young fathers work that 

have successfully adopted multi-agency approaches. We asked 

practitioners about the benefits and pitfalls in developing positive 

relationships with other agencies. They also offered ‘hints and tips’ for 

those wanting to explore ways of partnership working. 

Partnerships and networking 

Building a network of positive 

contacts and relationships with 

other professionals and 

organisations is a key factor in the 

success of young fathers work. Views 

from practitioners tell us that 

networking is important for a number 

of reasons including: 

• Establishing networks means that 

young fathers can be linked in with 

the most appropriate services that 

can support them. It is unlikely that 

any one project or agency can meet 

the range of young fathers’ support 

needs. 

• Building positive relationships and 

trust with other agencies can help 

smooth the way to accessing services 

for young fathers. Resistance from 

agencies is common regarding the 

perceived benefits of young fathers 

work. Networking can help to 

challenge such perceptions and 

stereotypes. 

• Positive networks can have a direct 

impact on young fathers work in 

terms of providing valuable routes 

for raising awareness of the work, 

and creating opportunities for the 

dissemination of expertise and 

learning (e.g. by delivering training 

to other agencies). For example, as a 

direct result of developing strong 

links with various organisations and 

agencies, Fathers Plus offers various 

workshops, training, resources, and 

practical advice on a consultancy 

basis. 

KEY QUESTIONS 

• How will you gain the confidence of other organisations and agencies for 

potential referrals? 

• What methods will you use to gain contact with others working with young 

fathers? 

• How will you present your work to convince others about the important and 

value of your work? 

‘YOU NEED TO FIND OUT WHAT 

OTHER AGENCIES ARE OUT THERE 

- MAKING THEM AWARE OF YOUR 

WORK - AND UNDERSTANDING ITS 

BENEFITS…’ 


Working with Other Organisations 

infocus 

46 

Multi-Agency Working 

B2b+ and the Y-Not Project, Sunderland 

B2b+ and Y-Not projects are multi-agency 

initiatives with Sunderland Social Services 

Directorate being the lead agency. Other 

partners involved in setting up and running the 

project include Sunderland Children's Services, 

Connexions Tyne and Wear, Sunderland 

Teaching Primary Care Trust, Teenage 

Pregnancy Board, Sure Start (Plus), Bridge 

Women’s Project, and Children North East. 

B2b+ works in partnership with all of the 

agencies currently involved in providing 

support and advice to young parents across 

Sunderland. The project provides support for 

teenage mums, dads, and their children by 

improving learning and health, strengthening 

families and communities particularly in 

relation to the involvement of fathers, and 

improving the social and emotional well being 

of teenage mothers and fathers and their 

children. 

Services for young mothers and young fathers 

are numerous and comprehensive including: 

• an informal drop-in for access to support 

including health, Connexions, housing 

advice, welfare rights, and childcare 


Various practitioners and project 

managers we spoke to said that being 

strategic and planning a multi-agency 

approach to young fathers work had 

been a particularly central part of their 

work leading to successful outcomes 

for young fathers. Amongst others, 

DVD in Rotherham B2b+ in 

Sunderland (see In Focus), Lewisham 

• a Childcare Development Worker for 

parenting advice 

• a Young Fathers Worker for support, advice, 

and training opportunities. 

• a variety of courses and training (e.g. Craft, 

ICT, Maths, English, Independent Living 

Skills etc.) 

• a toy library - toys are available to borrow 

and advice offered on appropriate toys and 

safety equipment 

• free créche facilities run by trained early 

years workers 

• full access to the Y-Not? Project – this is an 

extension of B2b+ for young mothers, 

young fathers, and young people leaving 

care. Provision and activities include an art 

project, theatre group, writing group, DJ 

training/courses. 


‘One size does not fit all!’ 

• A multi-agency approach is an extremely 

effective way to ensure the individual needs 

of young mothers and young fathers are 

addressed. 

• The imaginative use of resources in the 

project is made possible by the way the 

project is funded. Mainstream funding from 

Social Services, Education and Health has 

to be spent in particular ways. However, 

additional funding streams from the 

European Social Fund, Neighbourhood 

Renewal Fund, Sure Start Plus grant (no 

longer available), and Teenage Pregnancy 

implementation grant, can allow monies to 

be spent more flexibly. 

• The range of activities offered makes the 

project unique within Sunderland and 

contributes to why the number of young 

Young Fathers Project, and 

the Gloucestershire Young Fathers 

Outreach Project (GYOP) all explicitly 

highlighted the importance of 

developing positive networks, and 

working in partnership with other 

agencies to meet more fully, the 

individual needs of young fathers. 

fathers accessing the project continues to 

rise. In 2003-4, 15 young fathers accessed 

B2b+ rising to 40 young fathers during 

2004-5. So far in 2005-6, 35 young fathers 

have accessed the services. 

Next steps – Given the educational and 

emotional support young mothers currently 

receive from the project, B2b+ are hoping to 

develop similar support for young fathers 

beginning September 2006. The ‘Connect’ 

course for young fathers will be a City and 

Guilds accredited course run by the City of 

Sunderland College and a local voluntary 

agency working in partnership with B2b+. 

Taking place over two days a week for 32 

weeks, topics will include basic skills (maths, 

English, IT), relationships, communication, 

team building, life skills, motivation, 

economics, capacity building as well as 

learning about the environment and 

agriculture. 

The B2b+ Young Fathers Worker will work 

alongside the other agencies providing the 

course, to ensure the young fathers can 

access it and complete it successfully. They 

will also be offered emotional and practical 

support that is usually lacking when they do 

other types of training or educational courses. 

This scheme will enable the young fathers to 

apply for the Education Maintenance 

Allowance (EMA) so that they have financial 

support to study, and can still be involved in 

the more ‘nurturing’ and ‘parenting’ type 

courses that B2b+ offers. 

Contact: Charles Thompson (Young 

Fathers Worker) or Alison Horrox (Manager, 

The Place), Tel: +44 (0)191 553 2381

Although a number of workers we 

spoke to reported successful working 

with other agencies and organisations, 

none said it had been easy. Working 

with other agencies is rarely 

straightforward, most commonly 

because of stereotypical beliefs held 

about young fathers, and conflicting 

approaches to young fathers work 

(ideological and practical). For 

example, differences in attitudes 

and/or misunderstandings about the 

value of work with young fathers and 

models of working (e.g. deficit vs. 

more positive models) can make 

networking particularly challenging. 

ContinYou’s (2005a) publication ‘I’m 

a Better Dad Now’ reports a number 

of difficulties experienced by two 

young fathers projects (DVD and Base 

25). Negative beliefs and assumptions 

about young fathers, inappropriate 

referrals, mis-understandings about 

project aims, and conflicting 

approaches to work all added to the 

creation of barriers to effective 

networking. Such views were also 

reflected by several young fathers 

practitioners we spoke to, often 

expressing considerable frustrations 

over their dealings with other 

organisations and agencies. 



Projects and organisations working with young fathers tell us networking affects all 

aspects of their work. At the back of this publication there are a number of young 

fathers projects and organisations that may be of interest. You may want to contact 

some of these to share examples of promising practice, and perhaps explore 

opportunities for joint working. Some generic examples of agencies and 

organisations that workers tell us they network with include: 

✱ schools, colleges, and Local Authorities 

✱ social services including leaving care services 

✱ probation services and youth offending teams (YOTs) 

✱ health authority services (including maternity services, health visitors, 

and midwives) 

✱ specialist projects (e.g. Homelessness projects) 

✱ drug and alcohol action teams (DAATs) 

✱ mental health services 

✱ Youth Service 

✱ healthy living centres 

✱ sexual health workers 

✱ young people’s information and advice services (e.g. Information 

Shops, Connexions) 

✱ Sure Start local programmes and Family/Children’s Centres 

✱ Basic Skills Agency 

✱ Job Centre Plus 

✱ domestic violence and ‘perpetrator’ programmes 

✱ family courts /mediation services. 


Working with Other Organisations 

infocus 

48 

Practitioner Support Network 

Young Fathers Practitioner Support 

Network 

Base 25 in Wolverhampton has established 

itself as a service to provide young fathers 

below the age of 25 with practical support 

regardless of their status or situation (e.g. 

relationship with the mother or contact with 

the child). It works on a one-to-one and group 

basis, taking a person-centred approach and 

placing emphasis on building positive 

relationships. A free telephone help-line is 

available for those unable to attend in person. 

Developed and run by Base 25, the Young 

Fathers Practitioner Support Network meets 

every 6-8 weeks to share examples of 

promising practice and plan strategically for 

future work. The network was initially created 

to help support young fathers workers in 

Wolverhampton Sure Starts and Children’s 

Centres. This support network is viewed by 

Base 25 as a vital component of their young 

fathers work by helping practitioners to reflect 

on their experiences and share ideas. 

Contact: Jason Dudley (Young Dads 

Project Coordinator), 

Tel: +44 (0)1902 572 044 


Networks for young fathers workers 

In our research, practitioners 

commonly reported that their post 

often represented the only dedicated 

young fathers provision, which can 

sometimes be an isolating experience 

for the post-holder. As the interviews 

progressed, it became clear that many 

individuals working with young 

North East Forum of Father Workers 

Fathers Plus in Durham is a project of 

Children North East, a well-established charity 

serving the needs of children and families in 

the North East of England. Fathers Plus aims 

‘to ensure that the role of the father is valued, 

supported and included in all approaches to 

work with children and families.’ In 2004, 

Fathers Plus was awarded a major Parenting 

Fund award to enable a Regional Resource 

Centre for Fatherhood to be established in the 

North East. The Centre acts as a voice for 

fatherhood, feeding back to policy makers and 

strategists (regionally and nationally) the 

experiences of practitioners and parents at the 

sharp end of service delivery. The Centre also 

aims to help practitioners and organisations in 

their work engaging fathers and promoting the 

importance of fatherhood. 

Fathers Plus facilitates the North East Forum 

of Father Workers which meets every two 

months and provides opportunities for 

practitioners working with young fathers to 

meet, network, and discuss issues and 

developments relating to their work. The forum 

meetings include guest speakers and regular 

skill building workshops for the members. For 

example, the Child Psychotherapy Trust (CPT) 

has delivered a series of workshops on the 

‘importance of fathers’ to Forum members. 

The North East forum also supports a number 

of sub-regional groups running in Gateshead, 

County Durham, Sunderland and Teesside. 

Plans are in place to develop similar groups in 

Newcastle, Northumberland, and Tyneside. 

Contact: Roger Olley (Project Manager), 

Tel: +44 (0)191 256 2444 

fathers desire some kind of 

practitioner network where workers 

can get together to share examples of 

promising good practice, and build on 

the experiences of those working in 

similar fields. Some projects and 

services have begun to build such 

networks including Fathers Plus and 

Base 25 (see In Focus). 

The North West Fathers Network 

Established since 2001 and with over fifty 

members in 2005-6, The North West Fathers 

Network works in partnership with fathers and 

father's workers throughout Lancashire, 

Cumbria, Cheshire, Liverpool, and Greater 

Manchester. In addition to sharing promising 

practice throughout the North West, the 

network also designs and delivers local, 

regional and national training events and 

conferences. 

The North West Network welcomes new and 

existing members from across the North West. 

The network meets every two months and 

offers support for new and existing projects, 

networking and organising forthcoming events 

as well as a growing programme of bespoke 

training packages. An annual fee of £30.00 

covers membership of the network and 

attendance at the meetings, including all 

correspondence. A website for the network is 

currently being developed and will be 

available shortly (circa. December, 2006). 

Contact: Dave Morrison ((Community 

Support Manager), Tel: +44 (0)1229 871 480 

or Mike Turley (Community Men’s Worker), 

Tel: +44 (0)1772 655 789


✱ Competing priorities and busy workloads can make gaining the 

commitment of partner agencies difficult. Practitioners working with young 

fathers need to be able to explain clearly and explicitly, what the work is 

about, and the importance and value of engaging with young fathers - 

such as demonstrating the tangible benefits for the whole family, not just 

the young father. 


✱ If young fathers work is to impact on other agencies and local services, it 

is essential that raising awareness of the work is retained as a central 

objective. In the short-term, this may mean workers developing networks 

and contacts through a variety of means such as visits, presentations, 

case conferences, distributing information to agencies about core 

objectives and progress, and communicating with those working directly 

with parents (e.g. health visitors, ante-natal services, Connexions staff etc). In the longer-term, developing networks and 

partnership working may require some workers (with strong support and supervision from line managers) to operate at a more 

strategic level. This could involve activities such as attending key meetings to influence strategy (e.g. those relating to teenage 

parents, sexual health, Children’s Centres etc), and inviting local services to buy in the expertise gained by working with young 

fathers (e.g. offer training to help other agencies become more ‘father-friendly’). 

✱ Training courses and conferences for those working with young fathers can be particularly effective ways to develop core skills, 

learn about current developments, and network with others who are working with young fathers. Working With Men, Fathers 

Direct, and TSA all offer training and conferences around young fathers work. 

✱ Joining (or setting up) a regional support network for practitioners working with young fathers can be a valuable way to develop 

contacts, access training, and share examples of promising practice. Although there are a number of projects and agencies 

already doing this, most are not. In our research, practitioners said there was a strong demand for the creation of such support 

networks to support their work with young fathers. 

‘SOME OF THE AGENCIES WOULD BE UNFRIENDLY TO START 

WITH...THEY DIDN’T SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DAD’S 

ROLE – THEY JUST DISMISSED IT.’ 


8 

50 

Thinking PROMISING PRACTICE 

about your work 


Evaluating and building on 

promising practice 

Many practitioners told us they 

find it difficult to evaluate 

young fathers work, 

particularly in the early stages of a 

project as outcomes and successes are 

hard to measure, and may become 

increasingly more complex as the work 

progresses. TSA’s Young Fathers 

Project (Mordaunt, 2005) reports that 

one of the most difficult aspects of 

evaluation involves trying to prove 

what impact the work has had on the 

young fathers, and their relationships 

with their children. 

All of the projects and agencies we 

spoke to said that they regularly 

reflected on their working practices in 

some way, and that this was usually 

done in order to build on experience, 

meet funders’ requirements and be able 

A number of publications advocate 

the need for reviewing or 

evaluating work with young fathers 

in order to get services right and 

meet the needs of greater numbers 

of young men (e.g. ContinYou, 

2005a, 2005b; Lewis, 2006). We 

would agree that any review or 

evaluation of young fathers work is 

a necessary step to see what is 

working, what might need 

changing, as well as providing 

information for funders and helping 

the planning of future work. We 

asked a number of projects and 

agencies working with young 

fathers how (or if) they reviewed or 

evaluated their working practices. 

to meet more fully the needs of the 

young fathers that they worked with. 

Whilst some projects (e.g. Base 25, 

DVD, M.A.P., and Fathers Plus) have 

done this in more formal ways 

(through independent evaluations), 

most young fathers projects and 

services take a more informal 

approach to review and evaluation. 

For example, the Upfront team in 

Bradford regularly review and evaluate 

their working practices through 

consultation with young fathers, and 

team meetings where staff get together 

to reflect on their experiences. 

However, Upfront do recognise the 

limitations of not having formal 

evaluations, namely that valuable 

learning is not recorded.

8 

50 

Thinking PROMISING PRACTICE 

about your work 


Evaluating and building on 

promising practice 

Many practitioners told us they 

find it difficult to evaluate 

young fathers work, 

particularly in the early stages of a 

project as outcomes and successes are 

hard to measure, and may become 

increasingly more complex as the work 

progresses. TSA’s Young Fathers 

Project (Mordaunt, 2005) reports that 

one of the most difficult aspects of 

evaluation involves trying to prove 

what impact the work has had on the 

young fathers, and their relationships 

with their children. 

All of the projects and agencies we 

spoke to said that they regularly 

reflected on their working practices in 

some way, and that this was usually 

done in order to build on experience, 

meet funders’ requirements and be able 

A number of publications advocate 

the need for reviewing or 

evaluating work with young fathers 

in order to get services right and 

meet the needs of greater numbers 

of young men (e.g. ContinYou, 

2005a, 2005b; Lewis, 2006). We 

would agree that any review or 

evaluation of young fathers work is 

a necessary step to see what is 

working, what might need 

changing, as well as providing 

information for funders and helping 

the planning of future work. We 

asked a number of projects and 

agencies working with young 

fathers how (or if) they reviewed or 

evaluated their working practices. 

to meet more fully the needs of the 

young fathers that they worked with. 

Whilst some projects (e.g. Base 25, 

DVD, M.A.P., and Fathers Plus) have 

done this in more formal ways 

(through independent evaluations), 

most young fathers projects and 

services take a more informal 

approach to review and evaluation. 

For example, the Upfront team in 

Bradford regularly review and evaluate 

their working practices through 

consultation with young fathers, and 

team meetings where staff get together 

to reflect on their experiences. 

However, Upfront do recognise the 

limitations of not having formal 

evaluations, namely that valuable 

learning is not recorded.


Education Leeds, reviews and 

evaluates progress regularly through 

various channels including team 

meetings and supervision. The team 

collect a great deal of monitoring data 

as a matter of course (e.g. attendance 

at the FACT group and pre-and-post 

natal referral, ethnicity, age at 

conception, and so on). Moreover, 

they also regularly reflect on practice 

in more informal ways through critical 

discussion to add ‘richness’ to the 

reviewing process: 

‘We also have an [informal] way of 

doing things that’s not very paperbased... 

every fortnight there’s a team 

meeting where people report back – so 

on a day to day level, it’s monitored like 

that… more of a dialogue than hard-line 

monitoring and evaluation. It’s 

qualitative, rather than quantitative 

because the numbers are quite small. If 


The purpose of evaluation will change the type of 

questions that need to be asked. If the purpose of 

evaluation is for accountability, questions might 

include: 

✱ has the project met its aims and objectives? 

✱ how has money been spent? 

✱ should the project continue? 

you started just looking at statistics, it’s 

not very helpful. But if you look at the 

quality of information, that’s what’s 

significant.’ 

What was clear from the fieldwork for 

this research, was that many projects 

and services for young fathers do not 

differentiate explicitly between 

monitoring (continually checking 

progress against a plan of work by 

collecting information) and evaluation 

(determining whether aims or 

objectives have been met). They may 

also not be explicit about the different 

purposes of evaluation (e.g. 

accountability or learning and 

development). These are important 

distinctions and should be considered 

at the earliest stage of the work (e.g. 

when writing applications for 

funding). 

If the purpose of evaluation is for learning and development, questions might include: 

✱ what are the project's strengths and weaknesses? 

✱ what are the implementation problems? 

✱ which things have worked, or have not? 

✱ have you identified the ‘good practice’, and is it transferable? 

Adapted from McKie et al., (2002) 


KEY 

QUESTIONS 

• What is the purpose of 

your evaluation? 

Accountability or learning 

and development? 

• How can you ‘prove’ the 

impact of the project on 

young fathers and their 

relationships with their 

children? What 

approaches or methods 

might be suitable for this? 

• How can young fathers be 

meaningfully involved in 

the evaluation process? 

• How will you make sense 

of the information you 

collect? 

• How will you share your 

findings and with whom? 

(e.g. team members, other 

projects, partner agencies 

and organisations). 


Thinking About Your Work 

‘The extent to 

which the 

relationship 

between the 

young fathers 

and their 

children had 

been changed 

for the benefit 

of the children 

was of central 

importance to 

most 

stakeholders.’ 

52 


Most projects and services we spoke to 

evaluated their work primarily 

through team meetings (or similar), 

with young fathers workers feeding 

their experiences into the overall 

project or team strategy. Whilst of 

value, such methods do miss important 

learning by not talking to the young 

fathers themselves. A number of young 

fathers projects have demonstrated 

promising practice in this respect. For 

example, T-BAG in Halifax 

continually collect and monitor 

information concerning the young 

fathers who attend the support group 

(e.g. attendance, background 

information, current situation etc). 

Moreover, T-BAG involve young 

fathers in their evaluation processes 

via a steering group. This group 

consists of five teenage mothers and 

two teenage fathers who access the 

service, and who meet once a month to 

infocus 

Useful Resources for Learning How to 

Evaluate 

The Evaluation Journey: An Evaluation 

Resource Pack for Community Groups. 

This evaluation pack is free to download from 

www.ashscotland.org.uk. This excellent and 

generic resource uses examples from topic-specific 

work to help groups and organisations through the 

process of monitoring and evaluating. The resource 

aims to: 

• make evaluation accessible and easy to 

understand (especially for those with little previous 

experience) 

• show how evaluation can be embedded into 

ongoing work, and can inform the planning and 

development of future work 

ensure the project continues to be 

relevant to young parents in 

Calderdale. Furthermore, DVD in 

Rotherham, Base 25 in 

Wolverhampton, B2b+ in Sunderland, 

and Fathers Plus in Newcastle, have all 

appointed external evaluators to 

critically examine their working 

practices including taking into account 

the view of young fathers who use 

their services. 

However, using external evaluators 

can be an expensive process for 

voluntary sector organisations and 

projects. The Charities Evaluation 

Services (CES) offer reduced-cost 

evaluation services specifically for 

charities. Other organisations also 

provide very accessible (and free) 

resources to help groups and 

organisations monitor and evaluate 

their work (see In Focus). 

• offer guidance on collecting and analysing 

information using conventional and less 

conventional ways of capturing and presenting 

information (for example, video diaries, collage 

work) 

• provide information on sources of support and 

advice on evaluation and research methods. 

Linda McKie, Joy Barlow and Paula Gaunt- 

Richardson (2002) The Evaluation Journey: An 

Evaluation Resource Pack for Community Groups. 

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Scotland. 

Website: www.ashscotland.org.uk 

The Charities Evaluation Services (CES) 

The CES offer information and advice on monitoring 

and evaluation specifically for the voluntary sector. 

CES offer training courses on monitoring and 

evaluation (including in-house), and provide 

consultancy for charities and funders. CES can help 

to develop self-evaluation frameworks, commission 

an external evaluation or develop a custom-made 

quality system. 

Website: www.ces-vol.org.uk



✱ Peer evaluation can be a really effective method of developing practice. 

Involving young fathers who have participated in the project or 

programme can be a valuable resource for exploring what works and 

what needs to change. Young fathers asking other young fathers about 

what they need, what works, and what doesn’t, is likely to be more 

powerful and meaningful than being asked by a professional – e.g. young 

people may feel questions are more legitimate coming from their peers. 

However, as paper-based evaluation forms such as questionnaires are 

biased towards literacy skills, they may not be suitable for some young 

people. Workers need to consider more creative, alternative methods or 

approaches for evaluation (see Top Tips, p51). 

✱ In general, funders’ requirements are often more likely to be quantitative in nature. However, evaluation doesn’t just means 

using numbers. Projects and services tell us that qualitative data (e.g. generated through interviews, case-studies, focus 

groups etc) can provide richly nuanced understandings about the effectiveness and success of project outcomes. 

✱ Monitoring and evaluation should be a strategic element of any young fathers work, preferably be planned from the outset, 

and progress reviewed regularly. However, it’s never too late to start. The sooner planning for evaluation takes place the 

better, but it is never too late (McKie et al., 2002). 

✱ Key aspects of evaluation are likely to include an assessment of engagement strategies, contacts and relationships with 

other agencies and organisations, referrals to and from other agencies and services, and impact on young fathers. 

Evaluating such impact is likely to include assessing changes in fathers’ confidence, esteem, parenting skills and changes 

in young fathers’ relationships (e.g. with the child and/or mother). 

✱ It is important that workers have the appropriate skills to carry out monitoring and evaluation activities. There are a number 

of organisations offering useful resources, training, and consultancy to help individuals develop these skills. 

✱ It is well known that services (e.g. maternity, Connexions) tend not to routinely collect information on young fathers, or their 

circumstances (e.g. Featherstone, no-date; Quinton et al., 2002), in part, because of the intensive resources needed to do 

this and maintain accurate information. However, to aid the evaluation process, young fathers projects and services should 

routinely record at least basic information relating to areas such as age (father and child), marital status and current 

situation (e.g. lone parent, living with mother, step-father living apart from child), housing, employment, agencies involved 

with, ethnic background, and so on. TSA’s young fathers project developed a useful pro forma to assist projects in collating 

such information (see Mordaunt, 2005). 


SECTION THREE - NEXT STEPS 


56 


EMERGING THEMES AND FUTURE WORK 

In this final section we summarise briefly, some of the issues relating to young 

fatherhood that emerged from our research. In doing so, we also outline a 

number of ways in which support for young fathers can be developed further. 

Summarising promising practice 

In this guide we have presented thematically, examples of promising work based 

around the issues practitioners have told us are important in working with young 

fathers. In doing so, we have raised a number key issues for discussion and 

debate. For instance, in ‘Getting Started’ we drew attention to some of the issues 

involved in setting-up or starting work with young fathers. Specifically, we 

highlighted how work with young fathers does not necessarily need to rely on 

large amounts of money, nor does it always need to be startlingly innovative. 

Instead, evidence from our research showed that dedication, careful thought, and 

consideration about how best to meet young fathers’ needs was much more 

important. 

In ‘Reaching and Engaging Young Fathers’, we stressed that young fathers are 

perhaps not as difficult to ‘reach’ as many professionals may believe. Although 

significant barriers do exist that can make engagement particularly 

problematical (e.g. cultural issues, beliefs about fatherhood, poor referral 

systems etc), these can almost certainly be overcome as many projects and 

services we spoke to have demonstrated. In ‘Being Strategic’ we outlined the need 

for projects and agencies to adopt a planned approach to their work. In 

particular, we presented two aspects of being strategic (consulting and 

developing integrated approaches) that practitioners have told us are especially 

important in meeting the needs of young fathers. 

For those wanting to develop services for young fathers but are perhaps not 

really sure what ‘young fathers work’ actually entails, ‘Examples of Young Fathers 

Work’ provides concrete illustrations of promising practice with young fathers. 

In the subsequent section, ‘Individual, Group, and Mixed Approaches’, we 

illustrate some of the different approaches projects and agencies have used in 

delivering such support for young fathers. In this way, and through other parts 

of the guide, we hope we have managed to de-mystify young fathers work for the 

less experienced practitioner, and for more experienced practitioners, offered 

some interesting ‘food-for-thought’. The section, ‘Young Fathers Workers’ offers 

a brief overview of some of the current debates around the importance of gender 

and ethnicity in delivering young fathers work. We also challenge the notion that 

fathers workers must be male, and caution against the blaming of women 

regarding the supposed ‘feminisation’ of mainstream support services. Lastly in 

this section, we have explored some of the skills and training those working with 

young fathers may need. 

In ‘Working with Other Organisations’ we outlined the importance of networking 

and developing partnerships with other agencies and organisations, and in doing 

so, have presented examples of promising practice that show the positive benefits 

of multi-agency working. 

NEXT STEPS 


NEXT STEPS 

58 


Finally, in ‘Thinking About Your Work’ we have drawn attention to the need for 

projects and agencies to be critical and reflective when looking at provision for 

young fathers. We argue that although such evaluative processes do not always 

have to be formalised, it is important that they do happen in order that services 

are able to meet young men’s needs more fully. 

Next steps 

During the fieldwork for this research, it was apparent that a number of projects 

and agencies sometimes involved young fathers directly in the planning and 

delivery of services (e.g. T-BAG in Halifax). Moreover, it was also clear that 

young fathers are sometimes encouraged to provide peer support to other young 

fathers. However, we were left with more of an ‘impression’ that both 

participation and peer support were probably occurring in some areas rather 

than with a concrete picture of how it is happening. There are many positive 

benefits to be gained from involving young people in such ways, and there are a 

number of examples of this taking place in other arenas (e.g. work with young 

mothers, bullying, and the delivery of sex and relationship education in schools; 

see Cowie and Naylor, 2000; Strange et al., 2002; Wiggins et al., 2005). We 

suspect that both participation and peer support in young fathers work is 

probably occurring but that their existence and benefits are not widely 

publicised. Moreover, it seems likely that the use of interchangeable terminology 

(e.g. peer support, peer education, peer participation etc.) may also be obscuring 

our view of what is currently happening. Consequently, we suggest that 

participation and peer support work with young fathers would benefit from 

being developed more formally. This will of course have various implications 

(e.g. funding, training, service planning) for both projects and agencies, and the 

peer supporters actually delivering the work. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, one particularly persistent theme emerging from our 

research was the lack of sustained funding for work with young fathers. This is 

a controversial topic as some argue that the funding does exist inasmuch as it is 

available to support ‘parents’. However, because work with fathers is not firmly 

established universally, the reality is that many agencies see working with fathers 

as diverting activities from the ‘core business’ of supporting mothers and 

children. In the National Evaluation of Sure Start Plus, Wiggins et al., (2005) note 

that a lack of funds was the primary reason for many programmes choosing not 

to deliver services to young fathers. As we discussed earlier, other complex 

factors are at play here as well. Difficulties for professionals and services in 

defining who the client is or should be, particularly in circumstances where the 

father is not involved, only compounds such debates about funding and the 

provisions of services for young fathers. 

In our research, some projects and services have been very creative in order to 

support young fathers without access to additional funds, demonstrating that 

young fathers work does not need to cost a lot of money. However, increasing 

coverage of work with young fathers and young fathers-to-be clearly requires 

sustained funding in the same way more secure resources are currently available 

for young mothers. To bring about such change, it is likely that there will need

to be a more formal recognition of how issues related to young fatherhood are 

relevant to the core business of different government departments and agencies. 

Future research 

In section one of this guide, we drew attention to a number of significant gaps in 

the literature relating to various aspects of fatherhood (e.g. see Ashley et al., 

2006; Lewis and Lamb, in press). In particular, the lack of research relating to 

young fathers, and specifically, teenage and/or adolescent fathers is striking. 

Encouragingly (and as noted in the introduction) recent research has 

demonstrated the importance of fathers to their children’s development including 

both positive and negative impacts (e.g. Cawson et al., 2000; Flouri, 2005; Lloyd 

et al., 2003), and has also highlighted the need to support young and vulnerable 

fathers in the involvement with their children (e.g. Mordaunt, 2005). 

However, more research is needed to appreciate more fully the diversity of young 

fatherhood including those from different ethnic, social, and geographical 

backgrounds. A research focus on young fathers’ perceptions, expectations, 

support needs, and day-to-day realities of fatherhood is needed to identify and 

understand more fully, the barriers many young men face in meeting their 

expectations and aspirations of fatherhood. Such research is particularly 

required around school-age fathers, the group often perceived by many service 

providers and practitioners as being particularly ‘hard to reach’. Greater 

understanding of the complex support needs of this and other vulnerable groups 

of young fathers (e.g. those in custody, those with learning disabilities, and 

young fathers with mental health difficulties) is required to help better inform 

policy and practice. 

And finally… 

The need to engage and work with young fathers is becoming a more central 

theme in practice, policy, and research. Section two of this guide provides vivid 

illustration of what is happening to support young fathers ‘on the ground’ and 

such examples are clearly encouraging. But there is much more to be done, with 

a great deal of scope for increasing the coverage of support for young fathers. 

Teenage Pregnancy: Accelerating the Strategy to 2010 sets out the government’s 

plans for meeting the target of halving conceptions to young women aged under 

18 years by the year 2010. Forthcoming DfES guidance will cover a range of 

issues including ways in which services for teenage parents can better meet the 

needs of young fathers. Such guidance is welcome and reflects the government’s 

desire to place fathers more centre stage. The translation of policy into practice 

takes time, especially when attitudinal change is required. Learning from 

promising practice is one way of helping increase the pace of this work and we 

hope this guide will play a part in extending support to young fathers and their 

families. 

NEXT STEPS 


CONTACTS 

60 

LIST OF CONTACTS 

This section provides an annotated list of the projects, services, and agencies/organisations that 

were included as part of the case-study evidence for this guide. You might want to contact some 

of these projects to share examples of promising practice and perhaps explore opportunities for 

joint working. 

A Dad’s Point of View, Taunton 

This project involved working with individual young fathers 

using photography as a medium for them to explore their 

experiences of fatherhood. The work was published into a 

booklet to highlight their thoughts, feelings, and experiences 

on what it means to be a young father. 

Barrow Dads’ Group, Barrow-in-Furness 

Aimed at fathers of all ages, Barrow Dads’ Group(s) meet 

weekly in five locations in Barrow. Activities and projects for 

fathers and their children are numerous and varied (e.g. 

cooking, fishing, parenting courses etc.). Barrow Dads’ Group 

also offer the opportunity for estranged fathers to see their 

children within the groups. 

Base 25, Wolverhampton 

This young fathers project has established itself as a service 

to provide young fathers with practical support regardless of 

their status or situation. It works on a one-to-one and group 

basis, taking a person centered approach and placing 

emphasis on building positive relationships. Base 25 offer a 

free telephone help-line for those unable to attend in person. 

Boys2MEN (b2M), London 

An experiential group work programme of music, arts and lifeexperience 

and sports for boys, young people, and fathers 

and their families. b2M aims to assist males who are 

considered vulnerable, challenging, and hard to reach, to 

rediscover their potential and to successfully make the 

transition from childhood to adulthood. 


Contact: Julie Husband 

(Teenage Pregnancy Coordinator) 

Address: 

Somerset County Council 

County Hall, Block B2 

Taunton, TA1 4DY 

Tel: +44 (0)1823 357 988 

E-mail: Jhusband@somerset.gov.uk 

Contact: Dave Morrison 

(Community Support Manager) 

Address: 

Burlington House 

Michaelson Road 

Barrow, LA14 2RJ 

Tel: +44 (0)1229 871 480 

E-mail: dave.morrison@surestart-barrow.nhs.uk 

Contact: Jason Dudley (Young Dad’s Project 

Coordinator) 

Address: 

Base 25 

Castle House 

Wheelers Fold 

Wolverhampton, WV1 1ST 

Tel: +44 (0)1902 572 044 

E-mail: info@base25.info 

Website: www.base25.info 

Contact: Melvyn Davis (Project Manager) 

Address: 

Providence House 

26 Kilburn Lane 

London, NW6 4QD 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7604 5960 

E-mail: melvyn@coram-b2m.org.uk 

Website: www.coram.org.uk

B2b+ Project and the Y-Not Project, Sunderland 

A multi-agency initiative that provides support for teenage 

mums, dads, and their children. This is achieved by improving 

learning and health, strengthening families and communities 

particularly in relation to the involvement of fathers, and 

improving the social and emotional well-being of teenage 

mothers, fathers and their children. 

Y-Not? Project (an extension of B2b+), provides a wide range of 

services to young people in care, care leavers, and young 

mothers and young fathers. All young parents who attend B2b+ 

are able to access the services provided by Y-Not? 

Brighton and Hove Young Fathers Project (BHYFP) 

A project that offers weekly group support, information, and 

practical skills development for young fathers between 13- 

25yrs whatever their situation or relationship with their baby or 

baby’s mother. BHYF also offers one-to-one support for those 

who are likely to benefit from more direct work, and for whom 

group sessions are not appropriate. 

DeVeloping Dads (DVD), Rotherham 

Currently not running due to a lack of funding, the project 

aimed to encourage young fathers (16-25yrs) to play a greater 

role in the lives of their children by raising their awareness of 

the crucial part they can play in their child's upbringing. By 

lessening the feelings of isolation, recognising them as 

fathers, and building self-esteem, DVD helped young men to 

improve their self-image as men and fathers, and helped them 

to take on the identity of 'father'. 

Fathers First, Isle of Wight 

A project developed in partnership with the Isle of Wight Youth 

Service, local midwives, and Connexions, after a need was 

identified through a consultation process with agencies and 

young people. Fathers First provide a holistic, flexible, 

approach that is adaptable to individual needs and offers 

intensive individual support to young fathers. The service runs 

every Thursday in an environment of the young man’s 

choosing. 

Fathers Plus, Newcastle 

Fathers Plus is a project of Children North East. The project 

aim is to ensure that the role of the father is valued, supported 

and included in all approaches to work with children and 

families. Through infrastructure projects such as the 

Fatherhood Resource Centre, the North East Father Work 

Forum and the online knowledge bank 

(www.includingmen.com), Fathers Plus continues to help build 

capacity and support organisations to include (young) men. 

Contact: Charles Thompson (Young Fathers 

Worker) or Alison Horrox (Manager, The Place) 

Address: 

The Place 

Hendon Health Centre 

Meaburn Terrace 

Hendon 

Sunderland, SR1 2LR 

Tel: +44 (0)191 553 2381 

E-mail: alison.horrox@sunderland.gov.uk 

Website: www.ynotproject.com 

Contact: Alan Seabrook (Young Men’s and 

Young Fathers Worker) 

Address: 

c/o Youth Advice Centre 

65 Blatchington Road 

Hove, BN3 3YJ 

Tel: +44 (0)1273 889 292 

E-mail: alan.seabrook@hoveymca.org.uk 

Contact: David Sargent (Chief Executive) 

Address: 

Chantry YMCA 

Office 3 

Downs Row 

Rotherham, S60 2HD 

Tel: +44 (0)1709 720 040 

Website: www.rotherhamymca.org.uk 

Contact: Dee Makin (Senior Youth and 

Community Worker) 

Address: 

MY- I Office c/o Ventnor Youth Centre 

Victoria Street, Ventnor 

Isle of Wight, P038 1 ET 

Tel: +44 (0)1983 856 640 

E-mail: mobileyouth@iow.gov.uk 

Website: www.iwyouthservice.org.uk 

Contact: Roger Olley (Project Manager) 

Address: 

89 Denhill Park 

Newcastle, NE15 6QE 

Tel: +44 (0)191 256 2444 

E-mail: roger.olley@children-ne.org 

Website: www.children-ne.org 

CONTACTS 


CONTACTS 

62 

Great Yarmouth Young Men's Project (GYYMP) 

The GYYMP delivers sex and relationship education (SRE) to 

boys in a number of schools in Great Yarmouth. Support 

involves issues around parenthood, relationships, and sexual 

health. Boys not in mainstream education can access the 

project though the Youth Offending Team (YOT) and the Youth 

Service. The project also works with young men over sixteen 

in colleges and other training venues. 


Contact: Chris Simmons (Young Men’s Project 

Worker) 

Address: 

Kittywitches Centre 

156 King Street 

Great Yarmouth 

Norfolk 

NR30 2PA 

Tel: +44 (0)1493 331948 

E-mail: simmonsc@fsmail.net 

Hartcliffe and Withywood Teenage Parents Project (TPP), Bristol 

The TPP provides support for teenage parents, teenage 

parents-to-be, and their children in a deprived area of Bristol. 

Open five days a week, the work with young fathers is 

supported by a grant from the Big Lottery Fund. The TPP has a 

number of core aims including working in partnership with local 

schools to reduce teenage pregnancy, create safe environments 

for young parents to meet and build support networks, raising 

young parents confidence and self-esteem, and social skills 

development. Crèche facilities are provided. 

Health Initiatives Team, Leeds 

The Health Initiatives Team at Education Leeds works with 

schools and other agencies to ensure that school-age parents 

(mothers and fathers) are able to access appropriate education, 

and ensure that educational achievement is not disadvantaged 

by pregnancy or parenthood. The team works with pregnant 

pupils, fathers-to-be, and young parents (mothers and fathers) 

who are of compulsory school-age or who are 6th form pupils or 

Year 11 leavers making the transition to post-16 provision. 

Ladz 2 Dadz, Northamptonshire 

A service offered by the Teenage Parent Support Team in 

Northamptonshire for young fathers and young fathers-to-be 

aged between 14-21yrs. Ladz 2 Dadz aims to provide a 

service that helps young fathers to meet their own, and their 

babies/children’s basic physical, social and emotional needs. 

Work is varied, individually tailored, and focuses on issues 

such as employment, education and training, parenting skills, 

legal/welfare rights, housing and benefits. 

Contact: Mark Newman (Fathers Development 

Worker) 

Address: 

Hartcliffe and Withywood Teenage Parents 

Project 

Tenants Centre 

Gatehouse Way 

Withywood 

Bristol, BS13 9AN 

Tel: +44 (0)117 978 4401 

Website: www.hwtpp.org.uk 

Contact: Jenny Midwinter (Sexual Health 

Initiatives Coordinator) 

Address: 

Health Initiatives Team 

Education Leeds 

Blenheim Centre 

6 Crowther Place 

Leeds, LS6 2ST 

Tel: +44 (0)113 395 1215 

E-mail: jenny.midwinter@educationleeds.co.uk 

Contact: Heather Frick (Teenage Parents 

Support Team Manager) 

Address: 

Teenage Parents Support Team 

43-45 Sanders Road 

Wellingborough, NN8 4NL 

Tel: +44 (0)1933 231 050 

E-mail: hfrick@northamptonshire.gov.uk

Lewisham’s Young Fathers project 

The multi-agency Teenage Pregnancy ‘Virtual’ Team based in 

South London works to provide holistic and integrated support 

packages for teenage parents and parents- to-be (mothers 

and fathers). The Young Fathers Project was created to help 

local young fathers acknowledge the importance of being a 

dad and develop self-confidence as people and as fathers. 

Support to help improve outcomes with the young father’s 

child is flexible and wide-ranging including mediation work with 

families, sex and relationship education, parenting skills, and 

other advice as required. 

Luton YMCA Consultation Event, Luton 

Although not working directly with young fathers, YMCA Luton 

have conducted a consultation event with African-Caribbean 

young fathers. The event was intended to explore young 

fathers support needs and experiences (e.g. medical aspects 

of the pregnancy, attitudes of others, contact situation etc). 

The YMCA is currently exploring ways in which these needs 

can be met. 

Mancroft Advice Project (M.A.P.), Norwich 

A free independent information, advice, and counselling 

service for young people aged between 11-25yrs. Provision 

includes a drop-in for young fathers, practical advice and 

information, skills development, and support for issues relating 

to being young men as well as young fathers. Other services 

include advice on housing, benefits and advocacy, a children 

and young peoples rights worker, a young fathers worker, free 

pregnancy testing, free condoms, and a Connexions drop-in. 

Milton Keynes, Young Fathers Project 

Offers one-to-one and group support, providing advice and 

information for young fathers, and young fathers-to-be under the 

age of 25yrs. Support includes advice and information on 

parenting skills, housing and benefits, social and communication 

skills, independent living, sexual health, and counselling. The 

service is available for young fathers regardless of the status of 

their relationship with the mother and/or child. 

NEWPIN, South East London 

NEWPIN works with parents and other primary carers of children 

who are in need of support in their role as parents. The Fathers 

Project (based in Peckham) supports fathers in their efforts to 

develop positive and emotionally sensitive relationships with their 

children. 

Contact: Owen Thomas (Young Fathers Worker) 

Address: 

Working with Men 

Unit K401 

Tower bridge business complex 

100 Clements road 

London, SE16 4DG 

Tel: +44 (0)207 237 5353 

E-mail: o.thomas@workingwithmen.org 

Website: www.young-fathers.org.uk 

Contact: Deniece Dobson (Service Manager) 

Address: 

YMCA Drop in Centre 

Alma Street 

Luton, LU1 2PL 

Tel: +44 (0)1582 505 700 or +44 (0)1582 402 571 

E-mail: ymca.luton@btconnect.com 

Contact: Andy Wood (Young Fathers Project 

Worker) 

Address: 

MAP (Mancroft Advice Project) 

The Risebrow Centre 

Chantry Road 

Norwich, NR2 1RF 

Tel: +44 (0)1603 766 994 

Website: www.map11-25.org 

Contact: Hayden Tennant (Young Fathers Coordinator) 

Address: 

c/o Brook Advisory Centre 

Acorn House 

355 Midsummer Boulevard 

Milton Keynes, MK9 3HP 

Tel: +44 (0)1908 606 561 

E-mail: hayden.tennant@brookmk.org.uk 

Contact: Geoff Leslie (Fathers Project 

Coordinator) 

Address: 

163 Commercial Way 

Peckham 

London, SE15 1AU 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7252 8283 

E-mail: info@newpin.org.uk 

Website: www.newpin.org.uk 

CONTACTS 


CONTACTS 

64 

Pro-Thinc Drama, Merton 

The Merton Teenage Pregnancy Partnership in South London 

recognised support for young fathers needed to be addressed 

urgently. Through research and a drama-based consultation 

event, the partnership developed an in-depth knowledge of 

young fathers needs in the local area. The partnership is 

currently working to meet these needs. 

Sure Start, Berwick-upon-Tweed 

Midwife run classes for fathers-to-be in rural Northumberland. 

The Sure Start Borough outreach team is co-located at 

Wooler Fire Station but also operates out of a number of 

satellite venues across the borough. Sessions are held in the 

evening to accommodate working hours, and held at the local 

maternity department. Personal invitations to fathers-to-be are 

given during ante-natal home visits to engage fathers early in 

the process. 

Teens-Babies Advice Group (T-BAG), Halifax 

The Information Shop for Young people has encouraged and 

supported a group of young parents (mums and dads) to get 

together to form their own support and advice group for 

teenage parents living in Calderdale. The service offers a 

wide range of information available including advice on health, 

education and training, money and benefits, sexual health, 

housing and jobs. 

Teenage Pregnancy Support Service (TPSS), Hull 

The TPSS is a centrally based team comprised of a 

coordinator and four teenage pregnancy advisers with 

different specialisms including school-age parents, pregnancy 

and child health, housing, and young fathers. One-to-one 

support and advice on a range of issues is available for young 

parents (mothers and fathers). Work with young fathers is fully 

integrated into mainstream support services for young 

parents. 


Contact: Kate Jezernik (Teenage Pregnancy 

Coordinator) 

Address: 

Merton Teenage Pregnancy Partnership (Sutton 

and Merton PCT) 

The Wilson Hospital 

Cranmer Road 

Mitcham, CR4 4TP 

Tel: +44 (0)208 687 4733 

E-mail: kate.jezernik@smpctnurses.nhs.uk 

Contact: Jan Marshall (Midwife) 

Address: 

Sure Start Berwick Borough 

Wooler Fire Station 

South Road, Wooler 

Northumberland, NE71 6SN 

Tel: +44 (0)1668 283 372 

Website: www.surestartberwickborough.org.uk 

Contact: Olinda Olekeswycz (Project Manager) 

Address: 

The Information Shop for Young People 

Halifax Connexions Centre 

Halifax Careers Centre 

16 Alexandra Street 

Halifax, HX1 1BS 

Tel: +44 (0)1422 330 033 

Website: www.connexionswestyorkshire.co.uk 

Contact: Rob Elkin (Young Fathers Worker) or 

Susan Reddington (TPSS Manager) 

Address: 


First Floor, Conifer House 

32-36 Prospect Street 

Hull, HU2 8PX 

Tel: +44 (0)1482 336 380 

E-mail: rob.elkin@hullcc.gov.uk

UKdadsposse and the Potential Project, Oxford 

Relying on a small group of paid workers and volunteers, the 

UKdadsposse and the Potential Project work to provide 

support, training, information and advice to fathers, male 

carers, young men and boys in schools. It provides a safe 

environment for young men to meet and share their 

experiences with others and gain support. 

Upfront Teenage Pregnancy Team, Bradford 

The Upfront team are currently developing services for Black 

and Minority Ethnic (BME) young fathers in Bradford based on 

research recently undertaken by a member of the team. 

Positive links with Sure Start (Manningham and West 

Bowling), mean the team has developed considerable 

expertise in engaging with BME teenage fathers. 

WILD Young Fathers Programme, Cornwall 

The WILD young fathers programme was created to help local 

young fathers acknowledge the importance of being a dad 

and develop self-confidence as people and as fathers. Not 

currently running because of a lack of funding, WILD provided 

young fathers with a safe place to be with their children; and 

helps them meet with other fathers (under 25) for fun, to share 

concerns, and for mutual advice and support. 

Contact: Carlton Gabbidon (Project Manager) or 

Christine Etheridge (Teenage Pregnancy 

Coordinator, Oxfordshire) 

Address: 

26 Kingfishers Green 

Greater Leys 

Oxford, OX4 7BX 

Tel: +44 (0)1865 779 298 

E-mail: ukdadsposse@yahoo.co.uk 

Contact: Jo Davies (Project Manager) 

Address: 

WILD Young Parents Project 

Wesley Buildings 

Wesley Street 

Redruth 

Cornwall, TR15 2EG 

Tel: +44 (0)1209 210 077 

E-mail: wild_online@btconnect.com 

Young Fathers Outreach Project, Gloucestershire 

A multi-agency initiative targeting young fathers and young 

fathers-to-be in a 3 stage support project. In stage one, a 

Gloucestershire-specific resource (You’ve Scored!) has been 

developed for use by workers, young fathers, and young 

fathers to-be. In stage two, the project will train professionals 

so that they can offer support, advice and information on 

issues that may affect young fathers, their partners and their 

children. Stage three will involve the development of a 

targeted support service for young fathers. 

Contact: Nicola Corrigan (Teenage Pregnancy 

Advisor) 

Address: 

Upfront Teenage Pregnancy Team 

C/O Bradford Youth Service 

1 City Road 

Bradford, BD8 8ER 

Tel: +44 (0)1274 432 445 

E-mail: enquiries@upfontonline.info 

Contact: Paul Hopkins (Health Promotion 

Specialist - Boys and Young Men) 

Address: 

Cotswold and Vale NHS PCT 

Corinium House 

Cirencester Hospital 

Tetbury Road 

Cirencester, GL7 1UX 

Tel: +44 (0)8454 222 718 

E-mail: paul.hopkins@glos.nhs.uk 

CONTACTS 


USEFUL ORGANISATIONS 

66 



Children North East, Regional Resource Centre for Fatherhood – Provides 

advice and information to organisations and agencies that are developing their 

fatherhood work as well as to individual fathers and fathers' groups. 

Tel: +44 (0)845 880 0707 

Website: www.children-ne.org/sherburn_child_main.htm 

Connexions – A government support service for all young people aged 13-19 

in England. Brings together all the services and support young people need 

during their teenage years offering differentiated and integrated support to 

young people. 

Website: www.connexions.gov.uk 

ContinYou - A registered charity that works with a range of professional 

people, organisations, and agencies to enhance what they do to change lives 

through learning. 

Tel: +44 (0)20 8709 9900 

Website: www.continyou.org.uk 

Child Support Agency (CSA) – General information and advice about the 

assessment, collection, and payment of child support maintenance. 

Tel: +44 (0)8457 133 133 (national enquiry line) 

Website: www.dss.gov.uk/csa 

Citizens’ Advice Bureaux (CAB) – An excellent free, independent, and 

confidential advice service. A UK registered charity that is reliant on trained 

volunteers to help people resolve a wide range of problems. 

Website: www.nacab.org.uk 

Families Need Fathers - A based charity offering volunteer-based help for 

parents (mostly fathers) to maintain child-parent relationships around family 

breakdown. 

Tel helpline: +44 (0)8707 607 496 (between 6pm and 10pm). 

Website: www.fnf.org.uk 

Fathers Direct – A registered charity that provides up-to-date news, training 

information, policy updates, research summaries, and guides for supporting 

fathers and their families. 

Tel: +44 (0)845 634 1328 

Website: www.fathersdirect.com 

Gingerbread - A lone parents' website (fathers and mothers) offering practical 

and emotional support, including benefits, education, and housing. Offers free 

advice line. 

Tel: +44 (0)800 018 4318 (Mon–Fri 10 until 4 pm) 

Website: www.gingerbread.org.uk

National Family and Parenting Institute – An independent charity working to 

support parents in bringing up their children, to promote the wellbeing of 

families, and to make society more family friendly. 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7424 3460 

Website: www.nfpi.org 

Parentline Plus - Free national helpline (phone and text) for anyone concerned 

about children that they are looking after. 

Tel. helpline: +44 (0)808 800 2222 

Website: www.parentlineplus.org.uk 

E-mail helpline: https://secure.synergycommunications.co.uk/parentline/contact/contact-form.php 

Parenting Education and Support Forum (PESF) - An A-Z listing of parenting 

programmes for those working with parents. 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7284 8370 

Website: www.parenting-forum.org.uk 

Sure Start: - Information about every service a parent could need in the local 

area including child-care, drop-ins, tax credits, toddler education, details of 

local educational programmes etc. 

Tel: +44 (0)870 000 2288 (National Enquiry Line) 

E-mail: info.surestart@dfes.gsi.gov.uk 

Website: www.surestart.gov.uk 

Teenage Pregnancy Unit (TPU) – A Government Unit located within the 

Department for Education and Skills (DfES). Website contains useful 

information about the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, and various 

relevant publications from other Government Departments. 

Website: www.dfes.gov.uk/teenagepregnancy 

Trust for the Study of Adolescence (TSA) – A registered charity and applied 

research and training organisation with a primary commitment to improve the 

lives of young people. 

Tel: +44 (0)1273 693 311 


U-Too – Is a community not-for-profit business that runs programmes for 

young parents (mothers and fathers) and young parents-to-be in the Wiltshire 

and Swindon areas. U-Too also undertakes research and development for 

organisations working with young people. 

Tel: +44 (0)1793 465 409 

Working With Men (WWM) – A not-for-profit organisation that supports the 

development of work with men through projects, resources, publications, 

training, and consultancy. 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7732 9409 

Website: www.workingwithmen.org 



RESOURCES 

68 


FATHERHOOD RESOURCES 

This section provides an annotated list of resources that may be useful for 

practitioners working (or thinking about working) with young fathers. It is not 

meant to be comprehensive, rather to offer some ideas and background 

information to assist in the development and continuation of valuable work 

with young fathers. 

A Dads Point of View - An excellent booklet of photography and words by 

young Somerset fathers. 

Availability: Contact Julie Husband, Tel: +44 (0)1823 357 988 or e-mail: 

Jhusband@somerset.gov.uk 

A Game of Two Halves – A resource for working with young people in settings 

such as schools to raise awareness about fatherhood and parenting. Developed 

by the Rotherham DVD project as a way of engaging young fathers in peer 

education. 

Availability: Contact Chantry YMCA on Tel: +44 (0)1709 720 040 or visit the 

YMCA Website: www.rotherhamymca.org.uk 

Dads Matter - A full colour 8-page A5 booklet highlighting the importance of 

fathers and male carers in their children's lives. 

Availability: Working With Fathers (Website: www.workingwithfathers.com) 

I’m a Better Dad Now – A report including details and instructions of two 

games that were developed as part of ContinYou’s Supporting Young Dads 

projects. The ‘Life Planning Game’ can be used to help structure weekly 

sessions with fathers. The ‘Game of Two Halves’ is a resource than can be used 

to raise awareness of the issues involved in fatherhood and parenting more 

generally. 

Availability: ContinYou (Website: www.continyou.org.uk) 

Free Workers' Helpline – A free telephone (up to 15 minutes per call) and email 

advice service. Intended for workers and managers trying to engage with 

fathers, or attempting to make their organisation or service father-inclusive. 

Availability: E-mail: workershelpline@fathersdirect.com 

or Tel: +44 (0)845 634 1328. 

You’ve Scored – A football style programme of information for young fathers. 

Provides useful information for fathers and fathers-to-be in an interesting and 

engaging way. Although the football focus may not appeal to all. 

Availability: Free to download from Fathers in Gloucestershire (FiG) website: 

www.figlos.org.uk 

Working With Fathers (Adrienne Burgess and David Bartlett) - This guide is 

aimed at ‘everyone working with families’, and provides information and 

discussion on how to develop father-friendly practice. 

Availability: Fathers Direct (Website: www.fathersdirect.com)

Working With Men – WWM have a variety of fatherhood resources in addition 

to the ones listed in this section. See below and website for further details. 

Availability: Working With Men (Website: www.workingwithmen.org/resources) 

Fatherhood Pack and Game – Various games and curriculum based exercises 

aimed at individuals delivering fatherhood related programmes in formal and 

informal educational settings. 

Fatherhood is a Serious Business - Set of A2 posters useful for helping to create 

a ‘father-friendly’ environment. Reflects African, Caribbean, Asian, and 

European fathers. 

What Works with Fathers? (Trefor Lloyd) – A report detailing 10 established 

fathers projects drawing out common themes to identify why they have been 

successful. 

RESOURCES 


REFERENCES 

70 


REFERENCES 

Amato, P.R. and Gilbreth, J.G. (1999) Non-Resident Fathers and Children’s 

Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61(3), 557- 

573. 

Ashley C., Featherstone, B., Roskill, C., Ryan, M., and White, S. (2006) 

Fathers Matter: Research Findings on Fathers and Their Involvement with Social 

Care Services, London, Family Rights Group. 

Brandth, B. and Kvande, E. (1998) Masculinity and Child Care: The 

Reconstruction of Fathering, Sociological Review, 46(2), 293-313. 

Burgess, A. (2006a) Young Fathers, Working With Young Men, 5(2), 13-17. 

Burgess, A. (2006b) Fathers and Public Services, ChildRIGHT, No 229, 18-22. 

Burgess, A., and Bartlett, D. (2004) Working With Fathers: A Guide for 

Everyone Working With Families, Fathers Direct. 

Burghes, L., Clarke, L., and Cronin, N. (1997) Fathers and Fatherhood in 

Britain, London, Family Policy Studies Centre. 

Cawson, P., Wattam, C., Brooker, S., and Kelly, G. (2000) Child Maltreatment 

in the UK, London, NSPCC. 

Coleman, J. and Dennison, C. (1998) Research Review: Teenage Parenthood, 

Children and Society, 12, 306-314. 

ContinYou (2005a) I’m a Better Dad Now, Coventry, ContinYou. 

ContinYou (2005b) Top Dads: Working with Young Fathers, Coventry, 

ContinYou. 

Cowie, H. and Naylor, P. (2000) Peer Support Challenges Bullying in Schools, 

University of Surrey Roehampton: Centre for Family and Organisational 

Relationships. 

Department for Education and Skills (2003) Every Child Matters, DfES. 

Department for Education and Skills (2005) Sure Start Children’s Centre: 

Practice Guidance, DfES. 

Department for Education and Skills (2006) Teenage Pregnancy: Accelerating the 

Strategy to 2010, DfES. 

Department for Education and Skills/Department of Health (2004) National 

Service Framework for Children, Young People, and Maternity Services, DfES. 

Doherty, W.J. (1991) Beyond Reactivity and the Deficit Model of Manhood: A 

Commentary on Articles by Napier, Pittman, and Gottman, Journal of Marital 

and Family Therapy, 17, 29-32.

Featherstone, B. (no-date) What Works with Fathers? Briefing Paper for Sure 

Start. 

Featherstone, B. (2001) Putting Fathers on the Child Welfare Agenda: A 

Research Review, Journal of Child and Family Social Work, 6(2), 179-186. 

Ferguson, H. and Hogan, F. (2004) Strengthening Families Through Fathers - 

Developing Policy and Practice in Relation to Vulnerable Fathers and Their 

Families, Family Support Agency. 

Flouri, E. (2005) Fathering and Child Outcomes, Chichester, Wiley. 

Ghate, D., Shaw, C., and Hazel, N. (2000) Fathers and Family Centres: 

Engaging Fathers in Preventative Services, York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 

Goldman, R. (2005) Fathers’ Involvement in their Children’s Education, National 

Family and Parenting Institute. 

Lamb, M.E. (2004). The Role of The Father in Child Development (4th Ed.), 

New York, Wiley. 

Lamb, M.E. and Lewis, C. (2004) The Development and Significance of Father- 

Child Relationships in Two-Parent Families, In Lamb, M.E (Ed.) The Role of the 

Father in Child Development, New York, Wiley. 

Lewis, E. (2006) Involving Young People in Teenage Pregnancy and Sexual 

Health Work: A Practical Guide, London, National Children’s Bureau. 

Lewis, C. and Lamb, M.E. (in press) Fatherhood: Connecting the Strands of 

Diversity Across Time and Space, Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 

Lloyd, T. (2001) What Works with Fathers? London, Working With Men. 

Lloyd, N., O’Brien, M., and Lewis, C. (2003) Fathers in Sure Start Local 

Programmes, DfES. 

Lowe, K. (2006) Young Fathers, Working With Young Men, 5(2), 18-20. 

McKie, L., Barlow, J., and Gaunt-Richardson, P. (2002) The Evaluation 

Journey: An Evaluation Resource Pack for Community Groups, Action on 

Smoking and Health (ASH) Scotland (www.ashscotland.org.uk). 

Mordaunt, E. (2005) Young Fathers Project Evaluation Report, Brighton, TSA. 

Pollock, S., Trew, R., and Jones, K. (2005) Young Black Fathers and Maternity 

Services, School of Policy Studies, University of Bristol. 

REFERENCES 


REFERENCES 

72 


Quinton, D., Pollock, S., and Golding, J. (2002) The Transition to Fatherhood 

in Young Men: Influences on Commitment. Report to the Economic and Social 

Research Council. 

Rolph, J. (1999) Young, Unemployed, Unmarried: Fathers Talking, London, 

Working With Men. 

Rouch, G. (2005) Boys Raising Babies: Adolescent Fatherhood in New Zealand, 

Wellington, FAIR Centre of Barnardos New Zealand. 

Ryan, M. (2000) Working with Fathers, Department of Health. 

Social Exclusion Unit (2005) Transitions: Young Adults with Complex Needs, 

London, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. 

Speak, S., Cameron, S., and Gilroy, R. (1997) Young Single Fathers: 

Participation in Fatherhood – Barriers and Bridges, London, Family Policy Study 

Centre. 

Strange, V., Forrest, S., Oakley, A. and the RIPPLE team (2002) Peer-Led Sex 

Education - Characteristics of Peer Educators and Their Perceptions of the 

Impact on Them of Participation in a Peer Education Programme, Health 

Education Research: Theory and Practice, 17(3), 339-350. 

Swann, C., Bowe, K., McCormick, G., and Kosmin, M. (2003) Teenage 

Pregnancy and Parenthood: A Review of Reviews - Evidence Briefing, Health 

Development Agency. 

UNICEF (2001) A League Table of Teenage Births in Rich Nations, Innocenti 

Report Card No 3, Florence, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. 

Ward, L. (2005) Appeal to Parents on Teenage Births, Society Guardian, 26th 

May 2005. 

Warin, J., Solomon, Y., Lewis, C., and Langford, W. (1999) Fathers, Work, and 

Family Life…, London, Family Policy Studies Centre. 

Welsh, E., Buchanan, A., Flouri, E., and Lewis, C. (2004) Involved Fathering 

and Child Well-Being: Fathers’ Involvement with Secondary School Age Children, 

London, National Children’s Bureau. 

Wiggins, M., Rostato, M., Austerberry, H., Sawtell, M., and Oliver, S. (2005) 

National Evaluation of Sure Start Plus: Final Report, London, Social Science Unit 

Report, Institute of Education.

Work with young fathers continues to be patchy throughout England. In some regions it is hardly 

in existence at all, whilst in others, work is very prominent. However, the signs are positive as 

evidence of promising work involving young fathers continues to emerge. 

‘Supporting Young Fathers’ offers an excellent opportunity to see how young fathers projects 

and other agencies delivering services for young fathers from around England, have been 

innovative in their work with young men. 

A key feature of ‘Supporting Young Fathers’ is its attention to the practical details that directly 

interest practitioners. It conveys the voices of those working with young fathers, and explores 

how practitioners can most effectively be helped on the often complex and difficult issues they 

have to deal with. 

This publication will be of value to anyone working (or thinking about working) with young 

parents – fathers and mothers. 

‘This report will be invaluable to both 

workers and managers seeking to develop 

effective services for young fathers. It is full 

of good, practical ideas, and stresses that 

young fathers need to be engaged with, both 

systematically and on their own terms. It 

shows convincingly that when young fathers 

are offered reliable and sensitive support, 

the impact on them, their children and their 

families, can be profound.’ 

David Bartlett, Fathers Direct 

TSA Ltd 

23 New Road, Brighton BN1 1WZ 

Tel: +44 (0) 1273 693311 

Fax: +44 (0) 1273 679907 

E-mail: info@tsa.uk.com 


Registered charity number: 800223 

Registered company number: 2300516 

ISBN No: 978 1871504 81 1

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