Online Program

Oral

African American (AA) non-resident fathers are often marginalized in both lay and professional literature, and depicted as unimportant, uninvolved and irrelevant to the successful outcomes of children and families. Further, dominant discourse around fatherhood suggests that fathers are relegated to the role of breadwinner, protector, and the head of the household. This purview does not, however, consider the fatherhood contexts, or the full scope of involvement for AA fathers who may not reside in the same household as some or all of their children. Nor does this perspective reflect the myriad of factors that influence the lives and fathering abilities of AA men who may also be low-income or otherwise disenfranchised. This session seeks to move AA fatherhood to its rightful place at the center of family and community by providing a strengths-based discourse of the Building Bridges to Fatherhood (BBTF) program, which is now being tested in the Dedicated African American Dad (D.A.A.D.) Study

Session Objectives: • Describe the conceptual model used to guide the development of the BBTF program. • Discuss the implications of having members of the target audience guide intervention development. • Discuss known challenges and best-practice recruitment strategies for AA men and fathers that will facilitate rigorous empirical intervention testing