Many fathers have complex needs that a single program cannot support. By bringing together organizations representing multiple sectors, fatherhood coalitions provide a formal framework within which stakeholders can work together to change systems to serve fathers and families more holistically. Systems-level change in a community works to align services and programs, remove barriers to access, create policies and practices that support families, and develop healthy communities with positive child and family norms.
Below are the steps organizations can take to build a community coalition focused on working toward a long-term, measurable goal to improve the community and creating systems-level change. There are also videos of practitioners sharing their experiences working with community partners and coalitions to support fathers’ varied needs.
Watch the webinar to learn more about how communities can become father-friendly by taking a system-based change approach, identifying evidence-based drivers of change, and assessing progress toward goals.
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The Importance of Building a Community Coalition to Support Fathers
Not sure why you should build a coalition?
Find information on the importance of building a coalition that takes a systems-level approach to address the complex needs of families, as well as community-level issues. Get started thinking about whether your organization is ready to build a coalition.
How to Build a Community Coalition to Support Fathers
Not sure how to build a coalition?
Find information on how organizations can move through the five phases of coalition building:
- Foundational activities
- Collaborative activities
- Indicators of progress
- Outputs
- Measurable outcomes
For organizations that want to build a coalition, this one pager will guide efforts through each stage of the process as you work to make systems-level change.
Transforming Communities for Fathers through Evidence-Based Systems-Level Change (2018)
Many communities already focus on service coordination, but organizations can build on existing work to address broad policy, practice, or community infrastructure issues that impact fathers and the community at-large. The framework for evidence-based systems-level change can help programs implement systems-level strategies over five phases: foundational activities, collaborative activities, indicators of progress, outputs, and measurable outcomes.
Practitioner Stories: Fatherhood Coalition of Tarrant County
Thanks to Mervil Johnson with the Fatherhood Coalition of Tarrant County for creating this video as an important example of how to create a long lasting fatherhood coalition to serve fathers in Texas!
Practitioner Stories: BCFS Health & Human Services
Thanks to Tim Morgan with BCFS Health & Human Services for creating this video as an important example of forming community partnerships to serve fathers in Texas!
