Routledge Engaging and Working with African American Fathers: Strategies and Lessons Learned

Engaging and Working with African American Fathers: Strategies and Lessons Learned challenges traditional and historic practices and policies that have systematically excluded fathers and contributed to social and health disparities among this population. With chapters written primarily by African American women – drawing on years of research, interviews, and practical experience with this demographic – each section explores current evidence on engagement approaches, descriptions of agencies/programs addressing specific issues fathers face, and case studies documenting typical clients and approaches to addressing their diverse needs. Offering an expansive overview of issues affecting African American fathers, the book explores such important topics as public, child and mental health, education, parenting, employment, and public initiatives among others. Engaging and Working with African American Fathers is a key resource for social work, public health, education students, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and members of communities who are challenged by meeting the diverse needs of African American fathers. Review "Have we come to the conclusion that African American men are unwilling or unable to participate in the important work of childrearing? Women certainly have a stake in the issue, and in Engaging and Working with African American Fathers: Strategies and Lessons Learned women take the lead to dispel this myth and clarify the social and policy reality of the vital work of engaging fathers. It is an essential contribution to fatherhood scholarship and analysis."Jacquelyn Boggess, Lecturer at University of Wisconsin School of Social Work and Executive Director at the Center for Family Policy & Practice "Rollins and her contributors have done a tremendous job in pulling together practices that will help to unify the current fragmented approaches to working with African American fathers. I would argue that this book must be regarded as a greatly important contribution to the fatherhood literature. It is invaluable for the manner in which authors combine the lessons learned on how to engage and work with both custodial and non-custodial fathers in the spheres of health, economics, and child development."Obie Clayton, Director of the Quality Enhancement Plan, ASA Edmond Ware Distinguished Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice "This book is an impressive work by a team of extraordinary women! A must-read for fatherhood and family practitioners. The book illuminates the importance of understanding the challenges faced by African American fathers, yet, it also provides strategies for empowering them toward being the best fathers. This work is a genuine gift to the field of responsible fatherhood."Jeffery Johnson, President of the National Partnership for Community Leadership About the Author Latrice S. Rollins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine. She served as an enforcement/legal agent for the State of Georgia Department of Child Support Services for four years. Her specific focus on women in fatherhood and adding women’s voices to the fatherhood field developed as a researcher and board member for the nonprofit organization Women in Fatherhood, Inc.