Engaging Low-Income Fathers Pursuing Services Available to Parents: Perspectives of Fathers in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Literature surrounding parenting roles, fatherhood specifically, increasingly demonstrates the importance of a father figure in the life of a child. This includes actively participating in parent-oriented programming aimed at supporting families and aiding proper child development. Father engagement in parent-oriented programming has been a challenge for many programs. It is not uncommon for early childhood-oriented programming to be perceived to be a mother and child program; fathers may feel judged, excluded, or simply feel that the program is not intended for them. Art-based methods like photovoice present an opportunity for people who may not otherwise be comfortable opening up about their experiences to express themselves in creative ways that center their perspective, which can then be supplemented with oral communication (e.g., in an interview or focus group). In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a local Early Head Start program that serves Allegheny County has taken a special interest in further engaging fathers in their programming, as mothers have historically been the primary participants. As part of Family Foundation Early Head Start’s (FF EHS) annual quality improvement assessment for 2022-2023, they enlisted an evaluation team to conduct a photovoice project with currently enrolled fathers in order to hear from fathers about the experience of fatherhood as well as their challenges and utilized resources. Towards that end, in addition to photovoice, the evaluation team conducted an interview with a father and focus groups with multiple FF EHS staff across parent-facing roles. Results explore how fathers understand their role, challenges and needs of fathers, and engagement and support of fathers within EHS. Findings can help similar parent-oriented programming better understand experiences of fatherhood and provide ways to improve services with fathers in mind