Family, Health and Education Services in England

1
Family, Health and Education Services in England
Wales must comply with POLICY
LEGISLATIONrequiring engagement with fathers
2

• POLICY and LEGISLATION explicitly requiring
  engagement with fathers - e.g.
• The Children Act (1989, 2004)
• The Framework for the Assessment of Children in
  Need and their Families (DH, 2000)
• The National Service Framework for Children,
  Young People Maternity Services (DH/DfES, 2004)
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (2006)
• Routine postnatal care of women and their babies
  (NIHCE, 2006)
• The Equality Act (2006)
• Maternity Matters (DH, 2007)
• The Childrens Centre Practice/Planning/Performanc
  e Management Guidance (DfES, 2006 2007)
• . Every Parent Matters (HM Treasury, 2007)
• . Aiming High for Children (HM Treasury/DfES,
  2007)

3

• GOVERNMENT POLICY and LEGISLATION explicitly
  requiring engagement with fathers (cont)
• 11. Teenage Parenting Strategy Guidance (DCSF,
  2007 2008)
• Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory
  Group Annual Report (2008)
• 12. The Childrens Plan (DCSF, 2007)
• 13. 2020 Children and Young Peoples Workforce
  Strategy (DCSF 2008)
• 13. The Child Health Promotion Programme Update
  (DH, 2008)
• 14. SCIE guidelines for supporting parents
  (2008)
• 14. The Welfare Act (2009)
• 15. The Childcare Strategy (DWP, HM Treasury,
  DCSF, Cabinet Office, 2009)
• Healthy lives, brighter futures the strategy
  for children and young peoples health (DCSF,
  DH, 2009)
• Getting Maternity Services Right for teenage
  mothers and young fathers (DH, DCSF, 2009)
• Support for All (Green Paper on families)
  (DCSF, 2010)
• Teenage Pregnancy Strategy beyond 2010
  (DCSF, DH, 2010)
• Maternity and Early Years making a good start
  to family life (DH, DCSF, 2010)
• Parenting and Family Support guidance for
  Local Authorities in England (DCSF, 2010)

4

• AND THE COALITION?
• So far, none of the previous guidance or
  legislation has been repealed. In addition, The
  Coalition has committed to
• encouraging shared parenting from the earliest
  stages of pregnancy
• reducing gender inequalities at work
• achieving a better gender balance in the early
  years workforce,
• ensuring that both men and women use couple
  relationship support services
• (The Coalition - our Programme for
  Government Freedom, Fairness,
  Responsibility - May, 2010)
• reviewing the Family Justice System (June, 2010).

5
The Children Act (1989) Fathers are parents
under the Act irrespective of whether they have
Parental Responsibility, so they should be
involved in case conferences etc, where
decisions are made The Framework for the
Assessment of Children in Need and their
Families (DH, 2000) Assessors must take all
reasonable steps to gather information about,
and from, all relevant family members, whether
resident or not, and requires them to be clear
about the roles played by fathers or
father-figures.
6
The National Service Framework for Children,
Young People Maternity Services (DH, DfES 2004)
requires Childrens Services to (i) engage
systematically with fathers and
mothers to improve childrens
wellbeing and (ii) consult with both parents
over service design. National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
(2006) Clinical Guideline Routine postnatal
care of women and their babies. Postnatal
care in the community should provide mothers and
their partners or companions with information
about how to nurture babies and what to expect at
different ages, including growth and child
development.
7
Maternity Matters (DH, 2007) High quality
maternity care is not just about good
professional care that ensures a healthy and safe
pregnancy. It also involves access to a wide
range of varied services that should work in
partnership to help equip mothers and fathers
with the skills they require to become confident
and caring parents. The Childcare Act (2006)
Requires local authorities to identify parents
and prospective parents who are unlikely to use
early childhood services e.g. fathers who are
specifically mentioned), and facilitate their
access to those services.
8
The Equality Act (2006) (i) Requires
public bodies including health,
education and those that commission
childrens services to publish an action
plan for promoting gender equality. 
(ii) At the point of commissioning, a gender
impact assessment is required,
assessing the differential impact of
the service on women and men. 
(iii) Services must also gather information on
how their services impact on men and
women respectively, and consult with
men and women who use them, in ways
they find accessible.
9
The Childrens Centre Practice Guidance and
Planning and Performance Management Guidance
(DfES, 2006) All Centres must (i) have
a strategy to publicise all their services to
fathers specifically.and to
communicate why their involvement will
benefit their children and themselves
(ii) have effective systems to gather information
about fathers in all the families
with whom they are in contact (iii)
routinely offer all fathers the support and
opportunities they need to play
their parental role effectively (iv)
recruit and train all staff to be sensitive to
the needs of fathers as well as
mothers (v) consult with fathers and
mothers before strategies are decided,
and involve them in planning, delivery and
governance of services
10
(vi) engage particularly with groups of
fathers who previously have been
excluded from services and whose children are at
risk of poor outcomes - including
young fathers and black and minority
ethnic fathers (vii) monitor how far
different groups of dads have accessed services,
and what they thought of them. 
N.B. One of the Childrens Centres Performance
Indicators requires Centres to assess how well
they engage with fathers in the most
excluded groups. 
11

• Sure Start Childrens Centres Phase 3
  Planning Delivery (DCSF, 2007)
• Working with Fathers is one of five priorities
  for all Centres
• Father-child relationships can have a profound
  and wide-
• ranging impact on the child that lasts a
  lifetime. Sure Start
• Childrens Centre services should be
  responsive to
• supporting fathers and father figures in
  their role as parent.
• A parent link or outreach worker with a
  specific remit to
• engage with fathers will be most effective.
  In smaller Phase 3
• centres or clusters, a specialist fathers
  worker may need to
• be shared between centres. All other staff
  should also
• have the skills and confidence to engage
  with fathers,
• particularly on initial contact.

12

• Toolkit for Reaching Priority and Excluded
  Families (Together for Children, 2007)
• Contains a planning checklist on working
  with fathers which complements the Childrens
  Centres Practice Guidance
• Every Parent Matters (2007)
• Irrespective of the degree of involvement
  they have in the care of their children, fathers
  should be offered routinely the support and
  opportunities they need to play their parental
  role effectively.  This requires systematic
  information gathering about and engagement with
  fathers in all childrens services it is not
  enough just to offer dads groups.  In general,
  these services must be available to fathers
  across all social groups - including
  disadvantaged dads, and those in groups which
  access services relatively rarely (e.g. young,
  BME, non-resident fathers). 

13

• Aiming high for children supporting
  families (HM Treasury/DfES 2007)
•  
• New funding for work with fathers in Childrens
  Centres e.g. outreach workers, parenting
  classes that work for fathers
• A focus on midwives and health visitors and their
  role in supporting both parents
• A Parents Charter that will define the
  responsibilities of services to mothers and
  fathers (explicitly)
• A specific critique of the word parent and how
  it excludes fathers.
• A new focus on the need to engage with separated
  fathers with reference to caring and learning,
  rather than just financial support.
• A strong critique of how fathers are excluded
  from family services - and promotion of Fathers
  Directs Fatherhood Quality Mark as a solution.

14

• Teenage Parents Next Steps Guidance for Local
  Authorities and Primary Care (2007, DH DCFS)
• Working with young fathers is to be a priority in
  teenage pregnancy
• Services are required to develop a culture in
  which the starting point is that young fathers
  involvement in the pregnancy and birth is
  beneficial for the mother and child and that
  services should be designed so that they are
  inclusive of young fathers, rather than one which
  starts with the presumption that the young father
  is a problem.

15

• The Childrens Plan (2007)
• Stresses the need for public services to
  engage with both father and mother except
  where there is a
• clear risk to the child to do so CP Box
  1.1.
• There is to be a new partnership between
  parents and schools no matter what their
  personal circumstances mothers, fathers,
  non-resident parents, lone parents and
  working parents CP 3.21.
• Health visiting services should deliver a
  . . . health promotion programme that is
  universal
• but tailored to the needs of children and
  families
• both fathers and mothers CP Box 1.4.

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• Child Health Promotion Programme (Update, 2008)
• working routinely with both mothers and fathers
  (whether they are living together or not). 13
• Fathers should be routinely invited to
  participate in child health reviews, and should
  have their needs assessed. 9
• Any system of early identification of needs
  has to be able to be acceptable to both parents.
  14
• Increased focus on pregnancy and the need for
  mothers and fathers to be supported during this
  time. 9, 13, 34

17

• Child Health Promotion Programme (2008)
• Increased focus on vulnerable children and
  families, including
• Families with a young mother or father
• Families where the parents are not co-resident.
  14-15
• Useful predictors of risk during pregnancy
  include unstable relationshipsobesity in
  parents.smoking by partners. 15-16
• Greater focus on parenting support,
  understanding parents priorities, goals and
  aspirations 13
• Supporting mothers and fathers to provide
  sensitive and attuned parenting, in particular
  during the first months and years of life.
• Supporting strong couple relationships.
• Supporting the transition to parenthood,
  especially for first-time mother and fathers.
  8
• Ensuring that contact with the family routinely
  involves and supports fathers, including
  non-resident fathers.

18
Social Care Institute for Excellence Guidelines
(2008) The role of parent can be challenging
under any circumstances, especially where a
child has behavioural difficulties or a parent
is disabled or has other support needs . . . .
. . Parents are fathers and mothers and this
awareness of the role and inclusion of fathers
is supported by policy and guidance. The
Fatherhood Institute has summarised some of the
key documents.
19
The Childcare Strategy Next Steps for Early
Learning Childcare (2009) The role of a
modern public service in early learning and
childcare is . . . to empower mothers and fathers
(110) We will . . . involve and support
fathers (p.12) It is important to engage with
fathers as well as mothers in their parenting
roles. Too often family services fail to
recognise the role of fathers, to take on board
their needs and actively engage with them as
service users (235). The recently launched
Think Fathers campaign is promoting the
importance of all family services involving and
supporting fathers (235) Fathers preferences
also need to be remembered. As well as being
beneficial for child outcomes, 87 of men think
fathers should be very involved in looking after
children (844)

20
The Child Health Strategy Healthy lives,
brighter futures the strategy for children and
young peoples health (DCSF, DH, 2009)

• Review of how Healthy Child Programme is being
  implemented to include fathers 3.29
• Health visitor e-learning programme, including
  couple relationships 3.31
• Improvement of fathers' involvement in
  maternity services 3.32
• Ability for fathers to stay overnight now
  defined as best practice 3.34
• Review of antenatal education, with particular
  reference to fathers and
• excluded groups 3.36
• Healthy Child Programme pilot projects to test
  ways of reaching fathers
• Fathers Early Years Life Check 3.39

21
Getting Maternity Services Right for Teenage
Mothers and Young Fathers ( (DCSF, DH, 2009)

• The importance of young fathers a young
  fathers behaviour and attitudes have a strong
  influence on the health of the young mother and
  the baby
• The young fathers smoking/drinking/drug use
  is the greatest influence on the young mothers
  smoking/drinking/drug use
• The young fathers attitude to breastfeeding has
  a significant impact on the mothers choice of
  how to feed her baby
• A good relationship with the babys father and
  supportive behaviour by him is a protective
  factor for postnatal depression in the young
  mother conversely, his negative behaviour is a
  risk factor for postnatal depression.
• Relationship-stress between the couple is a
  significant causeof maternal stress which can
  affect the unborn baby. . .

22

• The Welfare Reform Act (Nov, 2009)
• Legal change in England Wales to require birth
  registration for unmarried fathers (as it is
  already for married fathers and all mothers),
  unless Registrar decides it is impossible,
  impracticable or unreasonable
• Gives mothers a new right to insist that
  unmarried fathers register on birth certificate
• Gives unmarried fathers a new right to insist
  that they are registered
• No compulsion on either parent to register but
  reasonable efforts are to be made to discover and
  register the fathers name

23
The Welfare Reform Act (2009) (cont.)
Non-legislative measures to promote and support
joint birth registration a duty on maternity
staff and registrars to engage with both
parents comprehensive new information about
the changes tgiven to both parents midwives
encouraged to inform parents about registration -
and the benefits of both parents signing
opportunity for fathers to register ante-natally
in health service records training for
registrars community outreach to reach fathers
as well as mothers acknowledgement of
paternity event at the birth N.B. This
legislation is a development of the awarding, in
December 2003, of automatic Parental
Responsibility to all unmarried fathers
registered on their babies birth certificates
after that date. Currently, 93 of fathers
registered at birth (45,000 children per year are
registered with only one parent).

24
Support for All the government Green Paper on
families and relationships (DCSF, 2010)

• A selection from the many references to fathers
  in this document
• An effective family policy must also be clear
  that parent means fathers as well as mothers
• Factors like smoking and maternal stress and
  mental health . . .are shaped by the
  relationships between mother and father . . .
• A fathers involvement is important in
  contributing to attachment and child development.
  It is also good for mothers . . .
• Research shows that when fathers are highly
  involved with their babies they are more likely
  to remain involved as their children grow up.
  This in turn has a significant benefit on
  childrens outcomes . . .
• Services that have traditionally focused on
  child and maternal health and wellbeing . . .
  need to take steps to become more inclusive of
  fathers. . . .

25
Support for All (cont.)

• A selection from the undertakings in respect of
  fathers in this document
• communicate about new arrangements for Joint
  Birth Registration ... and bring the legal
  changes into effect from January 2011
• support plans by the Royal College of Midwives to
  produce guidance . . . on how best to engage
  fathers around the birth
• ensure the free Bounty Packs given to women will
  also now include a guide specifically designed
  for fathers
• review the notice period for the two week
  paternity leave period examine the merits of
  introducing a paternity allowance. . . (enable)
  fathers . . . to take up to six months
  of additional paternity leave
• (undertake a) communications and awareness
  campaign (about flexible working) aimed at
  supporting both fathers and mothers
• And so on . . .

26
Maternity and Early Years making a good start to
family life (DH, DCSF, 2010)
there will be new opportunities for fathers to
get more involved - including an invitation for
both parents to attend a Family Start meeting at
their childrens centre and an opportunity to
agree a Parents Plan together. MEY 4
(supported by a starter kit for professionals
encountering expectant and new mothers and
fathers) Fathers sometimes feel left out of a
programme of health services that can be geared
towards the mother and baby, making it harder for
them to support the mother and baby themselves.
MEY 6 We are pleased that the Royal College of
Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians
and Gynaecologists are working together to
develop guidance for maternity staff to improve
engagement with fathers. MEY 27 We will aim
within the next 5 years that parents with babies
in neonatal care can be confident a bed will be
provided for them, so that both mothers and
fathers can stay close to their baby. Since
this recommendation relies on Labours vision for
Childrens Centres, it may not now come about
27
Teenage Pregnancy Strategy beyond 2010 (DCSF,
DH, 2010)
Guidance issued to Local Authorities and Primary
Care Trusts in 2007 set out what local areas
should have in place to mitigaterisks of poor
child health poor maternal well-being poverty
, in particular to ensure that maternity
services are tailored to meet the needs of
teenage mothers and young fathers
TPS10 Referral pathways between maternity
services and on-going support need to be clearly
understood and watertight to prevent teenage
mothers and young fathers slipping through the
gaps between services and missing the support
they need. And critically, all professionals and
services need to be proactively welcoming to
young parents to dispel the apprehensions which
deters many of them from accessing the very
services they need. TPS 34 To further improve
outcomes for teenage mothers and young fathers we
will, through guidance to local areas, make clear
the importance and cost benefits of including
teenage parents in the needs assessment and
commissioning of IYSS,TYS, early intervention and
parenting strategies. TPS 37 Also outlines
support for teenage mothers and fathers through
Care to Learn Teenage Parents Supported Housing
Pilot FNP
28
Parenting and Family Support guidance for Local
Authorities in England (DCSF, 2010)

• This non-statutory guidance brings together
  existing policy and guidance in the area of
• parent and family support.  It updates 'Parenting
  Support'  the previous guidance 
• published in 2006, incorporating subsequent
  developments, including 'Think Family', and
• the families and relationships Green Paper
  'Support for All'.
• It is a very father-friendly publication,
  referencing Think Fathers and the Dad Test
  and
• it encourages meeting fathers needs in all local
  public services. E.g.
• Local authorities are under a duty to provide
  mothers, fathers and other carers with accessible
  
• information about the services, support and
  advice available to help them support their
  children up to
• their 20th birthday. This is usually delivered
  through their Family Information Service, which
  should act
• as a central information point with links to
  local NHS provision, Sure Start Childrens
  Centres,
• Jobcentre Plus, schools, youth clubs, libraries
  etc.
• Sure Start Childrens Centres Practice Guidance
  stresses the importance of involving fathers,
• including young fathers, and non resident parents
  in their childrens care, learning and
  development,
• and includes advice on how to provide effective
  services for young fathers through childrens
  centres.

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• Think Fathers Guide - practical know how for
  services
• Think Fathers Champions - services,
  commissioners, policymakers, employers etc who
  are committed to supporting father-child
  relationships. Register by emailing
  champions_at_fatherhoodinstitute.org
• Dad Test - self assessment framework
• Champions Plus subscription service, including
  detailed online Dad Test Logbook, support from
  Regional Development Officers, 10 discount on
  all products services

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www.fatherhoodinstitute.org