Objective: Realizing the paucity of data available concerning fatherhood, the Fatherhood Collaborative of San Mateo County, a public-private community partnership with leadership from the local Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health (MCAH) program, conducted a countywide needs assessment to ask fathers of young children about their personal and service-related needs in order to assist local stakeholders in expanding and improving services for families. Methods: Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. A total of 204 fathers of children aged 0 to 5 years completed a 35-question survey. In addition, 80 fathers and community representatives participated in nine focus groups. Results: A complex set of needed services for fathers in the county emerged from the assessment, including: father-child activities; parks and recreational activities; better schools; parenting classes; support groups; high quality, affordable childcare; and general legal assistance. Only one-half felt the county was doing a good or excellent job in supporting fathers. Conclusions: This assessment is one county's effort to collect data about fathers, from fathers, in order to shape MCAH programming to better serve families. This assessment may serve as a model for other MCAH programs interested in improving services for fathers and families.
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Notes
First 5 San Mateo County was established after a California ballot measure passed in 1998 adding a surtax on tobacco products provided a new source of revenue to fund services for children ages 0 to 5 years and their families. Their mission is that all children in San Mateo County will be healthy, eager and ready to learn, have a loving attachment to a parent or other adult, and are able to reach their fullest potential.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project was supported by funds from First 5 San Mateo County, Peninsula Community Foundation, California Department of Health Services, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Branch, and the San Mateo County Health Department. The analysis, interpretations and conclusions of this project are the authors' and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the funding organizations and agencies.
Sara M. Buckelew, MD, MPH reanalyzed the survey data, wrote the final report to the funders, and drafted this manuscript. Herb Pierrie, RN, MSN served as Coordinator for the Fatherhood Collaborative of San Mateo County, wrote the initial grant to First 5 San Mateo County, and was the Principal Investigator for the needs assessment. Anand Chabra, MD, MPH oversaw all aspects of this project. All authors reviewed and edited the final manuscript.
The authors thank the Governing Board of the Fatherhood Collaborative of San Mateo County for their significant support of this project, and Dr. Relda Robertson-Beckley, Tim Collins, and Tom Pagnotta for their work on the needs assessment. We thank Diana Harlick, of First 5 San Mateo County, for her comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Finally, we greatly appreciate the constructive comments and edits from Milton Kotelchuck, PhD, on several versions of this manuscript.
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Buckelew, S.M., Pierrie, H. & Chabra, A. What Fathers Need: A Countywide Assessment of the Needs of Fathers of Young Children. Matern Child Health J 10, 285–291 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-005-0014-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-005-0014-6