Engaging fathers in child welfare and foster care settings: Promoting paternal contributions to the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families

Abstract

Father engagement in child welfare is an important process as their participation and inclusion in case activities may lead to improved placement and permanency outcomes for their children. However, despite evidence that father involvement is a critical component of child well-being and an integral part of a family system, the child welfare system struggles to engage fathers. Furthermore, father engagement with and participation in child welfare processes and services is low. Additionally, efforts by child welfare agencies to engage fathers and fathers' participation in engaged services is not well recorded in child welfare data reporting systems. To assist social workers and child welfare caseworkers in more fully engaging fathers, we explore research on father engagement in child welfare services, including studies on engagement activities, associations with child welfare outcomes, and barriers to engagement. This chapter also discusses child welfare processes, assessment methods, practice guidance, and intervention strategies across six key child welfare domains: (1) child maltreatment prevention, (2) paternity establishment, (3) intensive family preservation, (4) permanency planning, (5) young fathers in foster care, and (6) improving father engagement.