TOP TIP - University of Brighton Repository

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.’
Supporting Young Fathers 23