Ka:nen - Our Children Our Future

Resources > Fathering Initiative - Updated

New Resource:
Seven Philosophies for a Native American Man
Policies and Practices Affecting Aboriginal Fathers' Involvment with their Children (PDF Document)
First Nations Men and Fatherhood
Dad Can Do - A website designed to inspire fathers to be full participants in their child's learning. Many resources exist for fun and exciting things that any father can do with his children. Games, life skills for father and child, moving stories all work together to make this web site an excellent resource for fathers.

FATHERING

The link given below will take the user to the EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT INTERCULTURAL PARTNERSHIPS website. This is a site dedicated to Indigenous fatherhood and does provide off-site links to detailed resources such as Early Language Facilitation, Social Supports, Culture and other areas of inrerest. There is also a recently developed and critically accalaimed DVD which can be ordered from the web site which details the experience of Indigenous fathers today.

It is a great place to start when developing an understanding of the issues facing Indigenous fathers today in light of social and governemnt policies and practices affecting Aboriginal fathers' involvemnt with their children.

http://www.ecdip.org/fathers
Mainstream Fathering Initiative Summary
In a population health perspective father involvement is a supportive condition to healthy child development. This condition is influenced by supportive/risk factors. Some factors are related to fathers, others are related to the environment and living conditions of the father: husband wife relationship, financial status, services and organization within the community, ideology and culture. To make a substantial difference we have to look at father involvement with a global approach.

The initiative Ontario Region Fathering Initiative: Next Steps accepted the challenge to plan a regional strategy to support father involvement based on provincial CAPC/CPNP multi sites in collaboration with the National Project on Fathering, the Ontario coalition of CAPC/CPNP Projects and other Ontario associations that represent agencies offering services to families.

In each interested community, men will be asked to define their values, needs, vision and barriers related to the father's role. Community assets (agencies and community groups) will be identified against this criteria and a process for community readiness assessment will be designed. Sensitization training will also be designed from the input from fathers and their communities.

Parallel to those local efforts, the initiative will work collaboratively at a regional level. Representatives from the fathers' networks, the CAPC/CPNP sites, the Ontario coalition of CAPC/CPNP Projects, and the various other provincial associations related to families will participate on a province wide network which would connect with the National Advisory Committee. Also linking with the National Project would be an inventory of regional resources related to fathering. Integral to sustainability of this initiative, the project would explore current and potential fathering related reinvestment strategies and commitments in the communities.

Goal of this Initiative

Using a collaborative approach involving selected Ontario Region CAPC/CPNP projects and other regional associations, create a network aimed at supportive conditions to healthy child development by stimulating supportive factors related to father involvement at the local and regional level.

Our first article deals with the Psycho-sociological Data of Fatherhood:
1. Summary
2. Introduction
3. Changes in Family and Society
4. The Myth of the "New Father"
5. From Male to Father - Connecting with Men

101-106 Cumberland Street North, Thunder Bay, ON
P7A4M2, Canada, Phone: (807)684-1920 Fax: (807)344-6678

Last Modified October 24, 2008
Questions & Comments? info@kanen.on.ca