Report: Elements of Promising Practice in Teen Fatherhood Programs

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Elements of Promising Practice in Teen Fatherhood Programs: Evidence-Based and Evidence-Informed Research Findings on What Works

Compiled by: Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew, Ph.D, Mary Burkhauser, M.A., Allison Metz, Ph.D.

Introduction
The timing of the onset of fatherhood is a powerful predictor of the paternal role and is likely to determine men’s levels of involvement with their partners and children (Parke, 2001). Early entry into fatherhood is often viewed as a non-normative event and an accelerated role transition (McCluskey, Killarney, & Papini, 1983; Parke, 2000). Teen fathers represent a particularly vulnerable group of males whose family backgrounds and life-stressors tend to differ from older men and men who do not become fathers during adolescence (Marsiglio, 1995; Pirog-Good, 1993). For many years, teen fathers were either overlooked in teen pregnancy or blamed for their role in teen pregnancy. However, interest in designing programs to reduce teen pregnancy as well as meet the needs of this vulnerable population increased alongside an interest in the development of fatherhood programs (Lowenthal & Lowenthal, 1997). The current review examines a number of programs for teen fathers that have been evaluated and that can begin to answer the following questions: What practices have been found to be successful in programs serving teen fathers? What matters? What really works? This review helps to begin answering these questions more definitively.

At the outset, however, it is important to note the limitations of this review. Research on “what works” in teen fatherhood programs is still in its earliest stages. To date, few teen fatherhood programs have been evaluated and even fewer have undergone rigorous (i.e., experimental) evaluations. Due to the qualitative nature of some of the evaluations as well as limitations such as small sample sizes, lack of comparison groups, inappropriate statistical analyses, and limited outcome measures, most of the programs included in this review have not been rated “model” programs. That said, there is still much to be learned from examining program practices across programs that have adhered to specific evaluation research criteria as are described below.