Supporting Young Fathers Network
Home » Examples of Young Fathers Work » One-to-One - Questions & Tips
Questions
What does the young dad want from you and can you deliver this?
Is it possible to develop a peer support group or other group alongside your one-to-one work to develop relationships between young dads?
What are your own values/ideas around parenting and what are your strategies for dealing with confronting/challenging material?
When would you need to refer a young dad on eg to a counsellor?
What are you prepared to share with the young dad about your own experiences eg as a father, son?
How do you want to work with a young dad eg as a role model, peer, coach?
How can you make your resources easy to understand and accessible?
How are you going to demonstrate to a young dad that you understand/appreciate where he is coming from?
Tips from practitioners
- Always have something extra in your bag that you can offer eg free condoms
- Be well-prepared for every contact and expect follow up tasks in between
- Be on top of referral information and always have a possible plan of action although this might change
- Research dad-friendly resources and encourage dads to own these
- Make sure you get supervision as it can be very intensive work
- Look for peer support and mentors within the fatherhood industry
- Be patient and reliable even though young dads might not turn up to sessions or follow through on agreements
- Respect young fathers and show them that you are trying your best to get a good service for them
- Stress how important fathers are in their childrens’ lives
- Translate things into blokeness!