The purpose of this grant is to provide educational programs for fathers/father figures and their families. The primary goal of this project is to strengthen parenting skills of fathers as a means to promote family resiliency. Strong Dads, Resilient Families provides educational programs for fathers/father figures ages 18 years & up in Todd (western) & Wolfe (eastern) counties. The primary goal of the project is to strengthen the parenting skills of the father figures as a means to promote family resiliency. Short-term objectives and corresponding findings include the following: 

1) Increase in Parenting Skills and Understanding of basic child development among fathers/father figures - When comparing pre and post surveys, 100% of respondents continue to become more positive toward their experiences as parents. For example, there continues to be a significant increase between pre and post survey on the statement, "I encourage my child to be curious, to explore and question things." This reveals that the program contributed to the participants' understanding of basic child development. Informal interviews from incarcerated father participants consistently show an increase in understanding of their children's development after participating in the program. Informal interviews with all program participants consistently show an increase in positive perceptions toward their relationships with their children. This is important, given that as of Fall 2017, of the total 163 participants who have completed the Incarcerated Fathers program in Todd County to date (2014-2017), 40% indicated that their own fathers were not very involved in their children's lives and only 46% reported having a great relationship with their fathers. However, all 163 participants who have completed the Incarcerated Fathers program in Todd County to date have stated that they have improved their communication skills with their children, have a renewed sense of what being a good father is supposed to be and are on a track toward more effective parenting. Staff and partners have observed that fathers are now sharing ideas with one another about activities they are doing with their children that are developmentally appropriate when they are together in programs. 

2) Increase in community collaborations & partnerships on issues & programs pertaining to fatherhood - New and diverse collaborators and partners continue to become more aware of the CYFAR program and work with grant sites to assist in all phases of programming and evaluation. Furthermore, community organizations and programs are more frequently asking the site coordinators to participate in their community programs. Strong collaborations have developed with Head Start, County Detention Centers, Kentucky Probation and Parole, local Health Departments, local schools and Family Resource Centers, and with 21st Century Community Learning Centers as a result of the CYFAR grant. Staff have observed that community partners are now quoting the benefits of involved fathers to their clients and passing on information about the CYFAR program to other community organizations, helping to opening new doors for additional partnerships. 

3) Opportunities for fathers/father figures to engage in program planning & evaluation processes - Perceptions as a role model for their children continued to show decreases from a mean score of 4.07 pre-test to a mean score of 3.79 post-test (scale of 1 to 5). This finding continues to reveal that the fathers go through a process of self-evaluation as a result of participation in the CYFAR program where they are being able to honestly see the need for improvements in their roles as fathers. There also has been a continued decrease in negative perceptions regarding fatherhood by all program participants, staff, and grant partners. The program exposes participants to new insights that have allowed them to realize there are still more opportunities for personal growth, which has resulted in them engaging in not only participation but also planning and evaluating processes in relation to the program, themselves as fathers, and the larger community and society as a whole in relation to fatherhood. Surveys have been disseminated on an ongoing basis to include fathers in program planning since the grant began. In all discussions with fathers during current CYFAR programs, participants are asked for ideas for future programs and activities that will help to meet the needs identified by participating fathers and are asked to serve as volunteers/mentors in future CYFAR programs. Fathers who have completed incarcerated/parole programs are asked direct questions during exit interviews about needs of this audience and ideas for improving existing programs to be more effective at obtaining positive outcomes in the future. By the end of 2017, 38% of participants indicated they were involved in the program for 4 hours of more per week. In comparison, pre-test data revaled that early in the project over 70% were engaged for 3 hours of less per week. There was also an 8% increase in 2017 in participants becoming more engaged in other community/volunteer activities.