The Supporting Father Involvement (SFI) intervention is entering its 5th year of implementation. From its inception, SFI has been a collaborative effort in funding and implementation representing a strong private-public partnership. The project is funded primarily by the CA Department of Social Services (DSS), Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP). Its partners have included the University of CA at Berkeley, Yale University, and Smith College School for Social Work. The state social services provided the impetus for SFI through its need and vision, funding, and administrative oversight. The college and universities have provided faculty leadership for design, implementation, and research.
The project has been implemented in a robust and supportive way by five able Family Resource Centers in Contra Costa, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Tulare (Lindsay), and Yuba counties. Strategies, the technical Assistance arm of OCAP, is helping to disseminate the program to organizations throughout CA. Additional funding for dissemination and public policy initiatives, as well as cost-benefit evaluation, has come from the Stuart Foundation and a grant is under consideration at the CAL Endowment.
Given the widespread significance of the indications of SFI program success in terms of father-engagement and family well-being for California's families and the agencies that serve them, SFI is actively disseminating the rationale and results of the study. We are open to and seeking support for expanded public-private partnerships to publicize the compelling results of these evidence-based best practices to increase awareness of service providers, practitioners, and policy makers with the goal of fostering substantive organizational change within public and private organizations to think of fathers as caretakers of California's and the world's children.
If you are interested in supporting this CA endeavor, contact Teresa Contreras, OCAP's Bureau Chief at (916) 651-6400 or Dr Kyle Pruett, one of the Development and Evaluation Team, at (413) 584-3200.
If you are interested in implementing or supporting a project like SFI in your home state or country, contact Dr. Kyle Pruett (413) 584-3200, or Dr. Marsha Pruett at (413) 584-5811 in Massachusetts, or Drs. Phil or Carolyn Cowan at (510) 526-2586 in California.