Canadian Fatherhood National Conference. Hamilton, Ontario March 10, 2015

Transcription

1 Canadian Fatherhood National Conference Hamilton, Ontario March 10, 2015

2 Presented by: Dr. Ramona Alaggia, Ph.D. Associate Professor is the Factor-Inwentash Chair in Children s Mental Health at the University of Toronto. Karen Blake, CYC, B.A. Manager, Community-Based Violence Prevention Programs Yorktown Family Services David Cho, DTATI, Family and Art Therapist Yorktown Child and Family Centre. Group facilitator of Mindful Fathering Rodrigo Moreno, Group Facilitator of Mindful Fathering Yorktown Family Services Monica Rendell, MSW, RSW, Social Worker- Family Therapist, Yorktown Child and Family Centre, Group facilitator of Mindful Fathering

3 Background The Core of Mindful Fathering Diversity Transformative Narrative Approach Co-facilitator Model Session Overview Mindfulness Research Question and Answer

4 Mindful Fathering is a 12 week program designed and developed to effectively engage with fathers in working with them to become child centered in their parenting and finding ways to better manage their anger and aggression. In 2007 Yorktown received funding from the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) -Child Welfare Transformation Fund to develop and pilot a fathering group aimed at working with men who have exposed their children to domestic violence. Due to very positive outcomes, in 2008, MCYS provided Yorktown with ongoing funding to evaluate and implement the Mindful Fathering Program. Mindful Fathering was manualized in 2011 and was trademark registered in fathers have completed our program to present an evaluation has been conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Ramona Alaggia from the University of Toronto to determine the programs success.

5 Voluntary group program 80 % of our referrals come from our child welfare partners. 20% of our referrals come from former participants referring friends/family, Children s Mental Health Centre s and other community services. Fathers must show interest in learning alternative and non-violent ways to parenting and partnering. Screening process prior to group to assess level of acknowledgement of abuse behaviours and desire to learn alternative ways of parenting and relating to their child s mother.

6 Contracting with fathers begins at the very first point of contact. Father must make the first call Screening interview conducted over the phone criteria, objectives and expectations are outlined discussion about the abuse clarify that program has no direct influence on charges may need to be referred to other services Addressing any barriers to participation Intake

7 Psycho-Educational Transformative Narrative Approach Promoting motivation for change Increase fathers awareness of child development establishing reasonable expectations (according to age and stage of child) child centered parenting Increase awareness of and responsibility for abusive behaviours. Understanding impact of abuse on child and partner Awareness of attitudes and perceptions of masculinity that contributed to partner abuse and child maltreatment. Improve parent/child relationship and co-operation in parenting Improve outcomes for children

8 Diversity Participants in the Mindful Fathering Program come from a variety of cultural backgrounds and lived experiences: Language accessibility Traditional cultural roles Same sex couples Sharing

9 Build trust with the participants Participants are the experts Invite dialogue vs. education and instruction Tailor sessions based on group dynamics and emerging individual needs Use validating language vs. shame and blame

10 Conversations are Facilitated In: Negative impact of abuse that their partners and children have experienced. Understanding that abusive behaviour is a choice one makes. Understanding one s own victimization as a way of building empathy. Similarities in beliefs that are unhelpful and outdated. How gender role stereotyping can constrain relationships.

11 Collaboration that encourages relating to others respectfully. Transformative power of sharing and receiving feedback. Remorse and guilt used as catalysts for change rather than shame. Personal vision for change based on intentions, hopes, and commitment to values.

12 Transformative Narrative Process

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14 Facilitators are Role-Modeling: Male-Female facilitators Addressing power imbalances Positive and productive negotiation Co-gendered partnership Problem Solving challenges and addressing conflicts Demonstrating basic program concepts through interactions with each other

15 Sharing a meal together. Check-in, reflections since last session, follow-up on specific events, activities. Mindfulness exercise Introduction of the topic Check-out reflection on how they re feeling at the end of the session

16 Week 1 Introduction and Orientation Week 2 What is a father? Week 3 Hopes and Dreams Week 4 Masculinity and Power Week 5 Pathways to Abuse Week 6 Parenting Week 7 Children and Development Week 8 Problem Solving with Children Week 9 & 10 Putting It Into Practice Week 11 Making Connections Week 12 Wrap- up

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18 Video Clip Children See, Children Do YouTube Child See, Child Do

19 Don`t show emotions, except anger Don`t cry Don`t show weakness or fear Don`t be like a woman Don`t be like a gay man Don`t need help Be straight Make decisions Women are property and objects The Man in the Box

20 What is Mindfulness? Why Mindfulness?

21 Introduce the idea of Mindfulness during the first group Encourage openness to the idea of trying new things Progress from simple to more deep mindfulness exercises Utilize a range of mindfulness exercises Co-facilitators comfort with mindfulness should be assessed

22 Mindful Fathering

23 2/3 of participant fathers are Canadian-born. Of the men who identified as immigrants the average number of years living in Canada was 13. Just under half of the sample of fathers identified as white (42%) and the remainder as non-white. Just over two-thirds of the sample of fathers reported themselves as employed 35% reported that they earned under $25, 000 per year; 23% earned between $25, 000 and $40,999 per year, and 19% earned over 41,000 per year

24 A two pronged approach has been implemented for a multi-year evaluation. A process evaluation was conducted from 2007 to 2010 to help further develop the Mindful Fathering model of service delivery. Manual developed based on this for the curriculum followed by the group leaders The second component of the evaluation is outcome based, to measure desired changes with the father participants in group engagement, parenting competence and control of anger and aggression. Pre/post single group design

25 Your Views About the Program a client engagement measure (used with permission from Caring Dads program) Parenting Scale (Arnold, O Leary, Wolff, & Acker, 1993) a parenting effectiveness instrument (strong psychometric properties) About You an aggression and anger instrument (used permission permission from Caring Dads program) Client Satisfaction Survey (developed by Yorktown Family Services)

26 Since 2008, the evaluation component has been implemented in over 11 cycles of the group. 77 father participants completed the evaluation after they were given information about the research and signing of consent agency forms. 18 to 69 years (average age 39). All referred by child welfare agencies. Average number of children in families was 2. In 43% of cases the sole custodian of the child(ren) were mothers; 5% had joint custody.

27 Data Analysis N=77 (small sample but conducive to sound examination descriptive and exploratory) Attrition rate (drop-outs) almost insignificant -high retention rates indicate high engagement Paired t-tests were conducted across groups to determine if participation in Mindful Fathering is associated with statistically significant gains in motivation, reduction in parenting dysfunction, reduction in emotional reactivity.

28 About You Score (emotional reactivity) 75 Pre and Post Mean About You Score Men s average emotional reactivity decreased over the course of the program from (M=73.95, SD=20.1) to (M=69.00, SD=19.1) constituting statistical significance PRE POST

29 Global Parenting Scale Score Pre and Post Mean Global Parenting Scale Score Prior to intervention, men s averages scores (M=101, SD=16.49) indicated moderate parenting dysfunction and decreasing slightly to indicate some improvement (M=98.1, SD=18.25) Most of this improvement was accounted for in the Over-reactivity sub-scale PRE POST This is consistent with the significant change in the About You scores.

30 Fidelity checks for adherence to the Mindful Fathering Manual have been conducted on 3 cycles (mid-cycle) with very high adherence on 12 criteria Recent addition of a mindfulness component Very high retention rates speaks to high engagement Great potential for reduced child welfare involvement Need for control group to strengthen findings

31 Results of the current Mindful Fathering evaluation indicate: steady positive outcomes for the men change was evidenced in a positive direction for each of the key areas of motivation, parenting and control of anger as targeted by the program (according to the men s self-report ) Mindful Fathering is progressing from a emerging fathering program with promise to establishing itself as an evidence-informed program. With its curriculum fostering increased parenting capacity, reduced anger and aggression, and a proven track record of high retention rates the program is positioned for transportability to other sites and contexts. To receive information and training in setting up and evaluating a Mindful Fathering group in your area please contact Karen Blake

32 I have learned that taking responsibility for my own actions and being a positive role model is the most important part about being a dad. I have learned that taking responsibility for my own actions and being a positive role model is the most important part about being a dad. Men are under a lot of pressure to be strong and tough I`I`ve SO let that go now my wife, kids and I work as a team and we are all way more happy. I learned in group you choose how you think, feel and behave. I have learned that I have control over my reactions and emotions.

33 Additional Yorktown Services What s Up Walk-in Services (5 days/week children s mental health walk in) Parenting Groups Parenting Wisely, Community Parenting Education Program COPE Somali Outreach and Education Program Spanish COPE) Individual and Family Therapy Early Years Drop-in Programs Supporting Young Families (for pregnant and parenting teens) Youth Outreach Services Yorktown Shelter for Women Women and Communities Against Violence (WACAV) Here to Help Child Witness Program

34 For more information please contact Karen Blake, CYC, B.A. Manager of Community-Based Violence Prevention Programs Yorktown Family Services 2010 Eglinton Avenue West Toronto, ON M6E 2K3 (416) ext 228