Characteristics

A survey of all Early Head Start programs funded from 1995-1998 was conducted during the winter of 1999-2000 to determine involvement of fathers in the programs and program outreach to involve fathers. Program representatives from 261 programs completed the survey on the World Wide Web or by mail, for a 62.5 percent response rate. Findings revealed variation among the programs with respect to fathers served, goals for programs, program strategies for involving fathers, barriers to involvement, and current involvement of fathers in the programs. Some of the variation occurred as a result of program stage of development. Strong evidence for a predictable sequence of stages toward more complex and purposeful father involvement was found. Compared to programs at large, the more mature programs were characterized by greater father involvement, more goals and program activities for fathers, a different pattern of perceived barriers, more successful solutions to challenging situations, and greater likelihoo