"Go" by Twista with Cued Speech

Kiersten Beigel: Good
afternoon, everybody.

This is Kiersten Beigel.

I'm with the Office of Head
Start, and I would love

to welcome you this afternoon
(or midday or morning,

as the case may be
for some of you).

I'm going to be your
moderator for this webinar,

"Father Engagement is
Everybody's Business",

and I am absolutely thrilled
to be able to do that.

We have a lot going on this week
at the Office of Head Start,

as you know since you
registered for this webinar.

This is part of a series
of resources/events

that are happening the
week before Father's Day,

and we're really excited to be able

to offer the field some new
resources to support the work

that we do in partnering with
fathers in our programs --

Head Start and Early
Head Start programs.

So, before we get
going I'm going to --

let's do a little tech talk here.

I wanted to remind you you
can use your computer speakers

to hear the webinar.

If you can't hear the presenters
you can, of course, always attempt

to turn on your computer speakers.

And if you're having
problems with your speakers,

or they're not working, you can --

we've got a phone number here
in the public chat that Natalie,

who's our webinar coordinator,
put up for everybody.

So, you can see that
in the public chat.

It's a number with a
dial in that you can call

in if you're having trouble.

I also wanted to direct you to Sam.

Sam has his own tab next
to the public-private tab.

There's a Sam tab.

And if you are having any trouble,
any kind of technical issues,

you can do some private chatting
with Sam and he'll help you out.

So, that's our tech talk.

I wanted to tell you that we
have a pretty interactive session

for you today.

We're really excited.

We have a pretty laid back group
of folks, who are very passionate

about their work with
fathers, to say the least.

And I think they're going to keep
it pretty conversational so this --

we may be doing a little
webinar free styling here,

a little different than
the usual style of webinar.

And they're also excited to get
to know a little bit about you.

We'll be doing some polling
questions, asking you to weigh in,

and they'll guide you
when it's time to do that.

So, now I would like to give
you a chance to hear from them.

They're going to introduce
themselves, and we'll start

with David who is in the
upper left hand corner here.

And if you guys could just tell
us who you are and a little bit

about your connection
with this work.

David Jones: Okay,
thank you Kiersten.

Welcome everyone.

I'm so excited that
you're all participating

with us on this webinar.

My name is David Jones.

I am the Fatherhood Specialist
here in the Office of Head Start.

I co-lead all of our fatherhood
efforts with Kiersten Beigel.

And I have about 15 to 20 years

of experience providing services
directly, indirectly for fathers,

individual work, group work,
you name it, within the context

of Early Head Start, Head Start,

and also as a consultant
to other programs.

So welcome.

John Hornstein: Okay,
I'm John Hornstein.

I'm on the upper right hand side,
the one with the glasses up there.

I'm delighted to be working with
David and Ed and Kiersten on this.

I work at the National
Center for Parent, Family,

and Community Engagement and
have been doing fatherhood work

for over 30 years.

And kind of backed into it
when -- at a time when --

I remember very distinctly the
first time I said to myself,

"I've got to do more about
this," was at a conference

when the keynote speaker
was asked, well,

what do you do with fathers then?

And the speaker said, "well,

nothing because they
don't show up."

So, that got me not laid back,

as Kiersten said,
but quite passionate.

So, I'll move onto Ed.

[Foreign Language]

Edwin Cheromiah: This is --
my name is Edwin Cheromiah,

and I just greeted you

in our Pueblo Laguna
language, the Keres language.

I was just wishing
everybody a good afternoon.

Also again, I've been with the
Pueblo Laguna Fatherhood Program

through the Laguna Head Start
for the past eight years.

Way back in 2004, these men -- a
few men got together and wanted

to have fathers more engaged.

So it went through
PFS first of all,

but then finally came
into Head Start.

That's where I've been,

that's where I was
hired for this position.

And I continue to offer
services for dads, you know,

resources to different programs
that we have here in Laguna,

and also offering
them just the support

that sometimes fathers
need to move forward.

And it's a pleasure
to be with you today.

Kiersten: So how we're really --

you might have heard
some of our muted voices.

We were really excited to see
folks rolling in, and we have well

over 1,000 people register for
this, which is very telling

about how interested people
are in father engagement.

So, today what we're going to
do is about an hour and a half.

And I'm going to monitoring chat.

So, as questions come up along the
way, we might stop and take some

of those, or I might
make some decisions

about holding those
towards the end.

But, what we're going to do is
reflect kind of on where we are now

and where we hope to go in
building supportive partnerships

with fathers, think a little bit
about sort of the movement --

of the fatherhood movement and how
things have evolved in Head Start

with regards to father engagement.

And we want to renew our enthusiasm
and commitment to this work.

We want to identify some ways
to build father engagement

that is systemic,
integrated and comprehensive,

and we'll talk more
about what that means.

And we hope to share some
new resources for you.

Some of the resources that
are coming out this week

that you may use to improve your
program practice with fathers.

So, without further ado,
I turn it over to David.

David: Hi, so we're going to begin
with our first polling question,

which is a two part question.

We want to get a feel for,
you know, the participants

on the call today, so we'd like
to ask that everyone participate.

So, Natalie can you please
go ahead and launch the poll?

[ Background Noise ]

David: And the first
question is, what is your role

within the Head Start program?

So, we'd like for everyone to
sort of take a moment and click

on the choice that best
fits the role that you have

in the program within
where you work.

If - obviously, if you're not

within a Head Start program you can
choose one of the other options.

We'll give you a few
seconds to do that.

[ Background Noise ]

David: And Natalie, I'm
not sure in terms of time,

but give them a couple more seconds

and then we can take
a look at the results.

[ Background Noise ]

David: Okay, can we see
results from the first question?

Wow, so it looks like about
26 percent of you are family

and community partnership staff,

11 percent are parent involvement
staff, and then just sort of mix

of sort of directors, sort
of leadership in the program.

We actually have some focused male
involvement staff, health staff.

So, this is great and this
sort of connects with the title

of this webinar, which
is, you know,

"Father Engagement is
Everybody's Business"

so this is really nice to see.

So, can we move now to
the next polling question?

[ Background Noise ]

David: Okay, it's going
to come up in a second.

[ Background Noise ]

David: So, what is your gender?

[ Background Noise ]

David: Take a few moments,
make your selection.

[ Background Noise ]

David: And the one
thing I want to say

about the previous
polling question is, again,

irrespective of your role
within the program, you know,

everyone can make a meaningful
contribution to working with,

supporting and engaging fathers.

John: Uh huh.

David: That's one of the
things that we really want

to underscore with today's webinar.

Okay, can we see the
results please, Natalie?

[ Background Noise ]

David: It takes a
couple of seconds.

>> David: Ah.

>> John: Wow.

>> John: You know that leaves a
certain percentage unaccounted for.

>> David: Yeah.

>> John: But still, the proportion
is pretty interesting isn't it?

>> David: It is.

It is and I mean this is
really important for us

because again we want to make
sure that we're being thoughtful

in terms of how we respond, how
we present and what we're saying.

We have a sense that you know
our programs are predominantly

populated by female staff,
but we just want to make sure

that we're being thoughtful and
sensitive to the entire audience.

So, thank you so much
for your participation.

Natalie, you can go ahead
and close that poll.

[ Background Noise ]

John: What it also says David
is the majority of conversations

with fathers are between
female staff and fathers.

David: That's right.

John: Yeah.

David: That's right.

And so, it speaks to and
underscores the importance of,

sort of, what happens when those
opportunities present themselves

in terms of what we do with them.

So, we're waiting
for the next slide.

And while we're waiting,
basically what we're going

to do moving forward is just
going to be really reflecting

on fatherhood and Head Start
and Early Head Start and sort

of talking a little bit about
the historical evolution

of the fatherhood
movement within Head Start.

[ Background Noise ]

David: Seems -- we may be having
a little technical difficulty.

John: I've -- David:
Do you see the slide?

John: Yeah, but I
clicked on the tab

at the top that'll put me
back to father engagement.

I did -- David: Okay.

So, I just did the same thing.

So, I mean there's a lot that we
can cover to address, you know,

why fatherhood evolved
in the way that it has.

You know, we can sort of
ask ourselves some questions

about the role the women played.

And let me say that women have been
exceptional in their understanding

and support of the movement
to support father engagement.

And I think were it not for their
initial insight and their fortitude

and support, I'm not
certain we would have evolved

to where we have today.

John: Yeah.

David: You know, they
had to allow men in.

John: Right.

David: And then what about the men?

John: Yeah.

David: I think they had to
dare to be different and step

out of their comfort zone, but what
is important is involving fathers.

Initially, we got to a place
where in the awareness stage what

that meant was that we were not
only asking more from fathers,

but we were also asking more
from programs and from staff.

So, that means everybody had to
be a little bit different in terms

of the way that they were
working and what they did.

In the second stage, the
acknowledging stage, you know,

programs -- we began to believe
that programs needed sort

of an adjunct or separate services
for fathers in order for them

to be effective, in order
for them to meaningful.

And I think at the
time, John and Ed

if you agree, that was appropriate.

John: Sure.

David: Until we began
to see what happened

when the father involvement
staff left the organization.

You know sometimes the -- all
the great effort, the great work

that had gone into producing
this program sort of went

out the door with that individual.

So, we've evolved now in our
thinking to not only expect

that staff build relationships with
fathers and that fathers engage.

We are suggesting that fully
integrating services for fathers

as a component of overall
services is not only appropriate,

but it can contribute to
sustainable service provision

when we make fatherhood
everybody's business.

John: Uh huh.

David: And it's important to note

that initially you know
some fathers were hesitant,

almost reluctant, for
very valid reasons.

You know there were some cultural
reasons for their distance

from educational programs as well
as some of the systemic stuff

that we're all aware of.

But, in some cases we have fathers

who have received incredible
support and guidance

from their own fathers, and
they drew from that experience,

and it was easy to really work
with them and talk to them

about what was important
for them as fathers.

And then we had the other end
of the spectrum with fathers

that did not have that
experience that were committed

to doing something
different for their children

than what they received.

John, would you like
to say -- John: Yeah.

David: Anything about the
connections and opportunities

for connections at the
different developmental stages?

John: Yeah sure.

I mean I think this is a great
kind of reflection on the history.

And I -- the other day I
was wondering, you know,

what did fathers themselves
have to do with this change?

And I think fathers themselves
are expecting more of programs

because society as
a whole has changed.

But, I think, one of the
things about expectations is

that it may feel really different
at different ages, what --

the kind of connection
you can make with a father

when he brings an
infant to a program,

or when you do a home
visit, is quite different

than that father whose thinking

of their four year
old as a ball player.

So, I think there is a lot of
complexity to this process.

But I also think that this
idea that somehow everybody --

that full engagement means really
thinking about every aspect

of the program as being something
that fathers are involved with

and that it's not a
distinct and separate thing.

I think that's an important thing.

At the same time there may be
some things that are distinctly

for fathers, and those
shouldn't end necessarily.

David: That's a really good point.

>> Yeah. David: So, as we
consider what we mean or, sort of,

what we're thinking about when we
talk about moving from involvement

to engagement, as you
can see from this slide.

You know a lot of times, in
my experience sort of being

in a program, sort of leading
the evolution of a program

that became more father friendly,
consulting with other programs

that were beginning or attempting
to start fatherhood initiatives.

Programs tend to gravitate
to do what comes easy

or what satisfies program's goals

of actually having
a fathers' event.

And that's not to say that
these events are not meaningful

and they don't provide
opportunities for connectedness,

but tying the event to a process

that facilitates ongoing
opportunities for connectedness

and relationship building is
the key with the goal in mind

of learning about how you
know fathers think and feel

about their role as parents
and what's important to them

in relationship to their
child's development.

You know, we are at a place where
we want staff to extend themselves

and seek opportunities to connect.

There's so many routines
and complimentary supports

within Head Start that provide
opportunities to connect

with fathers that can result
in systemic, integrated

and comprehensive services,
as shown on this slide.

You know, we encourage you to dig

into the resources that's
being released this week

and begin assessing your programs'
current services, the intersections

and or opportunities for
connections with fathers, you know,

at times of pickup and drop off.

You know, if families transition

and then I know there's
this process where a lot

of families transition into Head
Start or Early Head Start initially

in home-based and they move

into a center-based
option if that available.

There's a significant change in
the amount of time that you have

to communicate with families when
they're in home-based juxtaposed

to center-based during
pickup and drop off.

So, staff have to be really
crafty about seizing the moments

and taking advantage
of those opportunities

to communicate with families.

John: Can you go back?

David: Sure.

John: Is it possible to go back?

David: Of course.

John: Because I want to put
an X right there, alright.

David: Okay.

John: And there's some interesting
research on mothers and fathers

when they drop off
kids at childcare.

And one of things they've found is
that after a problem, I'm sure many

of you have seen situations
where the child kind

of has a hard time transitioning
in and cries and both the parent

and the child have difficulty.

So, in this research they called
up both mothers and fathers

like 10 minutes or so after
they dropped the child off

and what they found was that
when it was a problematic one,

when it was a separation
issue, both mothers

and fathers were still upset.

They were still really concerned.

The difference was, was that the
mothers typically had somebody

to talk to about it
and the fathers didn't.

So, you know, what David said
about these particular times

to make a connection,
that time when the,

with the difficult drop off,
that may be a great time

to build a connection
with a father.

Now, you can move the slide.

David: Make a point.

John: I just wanted to use the
X. David: This is yours, John.

John: Okay, yeah.

So, and this kind of gets
to what I was talking about,

is these barriers to involvement
and engagement are different.

So, involvement is, like,
what's getting in the way as far

as just a physical thing, you know?

Is it transportation?

Is it ability to make
it to the program?

It's all kinds of these almost
physical kind of barriers,

whereas the barriers to true
engagement, to a true partnership

with fathers is really
more internal.

It's more, what am I bringing
to these relationships?

What do I believe that
the father believes

about the program or
about child rearing?

So, it's more this internal
stuff that's in the way

of fully engaging with fathers.

And so, when we get to
professional development,

that's what we're going
to want to think about.

So, you know, what is in
the way of a father walking

across the threshold into a
program or actually participating

in a meeting when there's an issue?

So, I think that we're moving
to thinking in a deeper way

about how we form
these partnerships.

So, yeah, so now we can
move to the research.

David: Well John, before we move

to the research slide
-- John: Yeah, yeah.

David: I would just like to
add a little conversation

about this last bullet.

John: Okay.

Oh, you're using the star.

I see. David: Getting fancy here.

You know this is where a lot of
the work really happens with staff

as it relates to professional
development when we start

to think about the barriers.

John: Yeah.

David: I think it's important
for us to really acknowledge

and accept the fact
that it is difficult

and that it may take
time and effort.

You know in the fatherhood
resource that we're releasing today

on the ECLKC on page 22
there's really nice quotes

from a staff member that speaks to
her beliefs about the father's role

and who she felt she should be
talking to about child development.

And how with good staff
training, peer support

and supervision she was able to
change her belief system and begin

to look at other personal
and professional biases

that were affecting
her work with fathers.

John: Yeah, yeah.

That's -- David: I think that's
just a really important point

to make that we know that this
work there's some complex issues.

And moving from one place

to the next will take some
time, energy and effort.

John: Yeah.

And David, so much of that
stuff thus sets the beliefs

about what my role as a parent
or my role in communicating

to a parent about which
issues is pretty deep stuff.

We're not necessarily
conscious of it.

We just do it.

David: Right.

John: It's something that's
culturally formed in us.

And so, I think some of it
is just acknowledging that

and bringing it to the surface.

So, yeah it's a really good point.

David: And the trust that
has to be involved in terms

of the relationship with your
supervisor to get to a place

where you're actually beginning to
wrestle with some of those issues.

John: Exactly, yeah.

David: Okay.

John: Okay, so the research says a
lot and to try to put the research

on fatherhood on one
slide is very difficult.

And before I get into
this, I'd like to say

that this might feel
a little offensive

to some people, and that's okay.

But, part of it is that
this doesn't say anything

about women really.

And when I say well, fathers
make important contributions

to children's development.

Well that doesn't mean that mothers
don't make the same contributions,

or that mothers in some cases
make the same contributions

that fathers do, or some
fathers that mothers do.

So, I think this you know it's
not as like you know one --

two sided as it may seem.

So, I just want to you know
make that disclaimer first

because I think this can start
feeling like oh, dads do this

and mothers do this when,
in fact, it gets mixed

up a lot more than we might think.

The first bullet is
men are fully capable

of nurturing young children.

We know that.

We know that throughout history.

Men have nurtured young children.

In some societies men play a
larger role in the nurturance.

In many societies that's
changing, but men's brains respond

to a babies cry the same
way women's brains do.

The same parts of the brain get
activated when they hear a cry.

Society has helped them figure out
what to do when they hear that cry,

but the neurological
phenomenon is the same.

Men naturally raise their
voices to a higher pitch

when they're talking to infants.

Of course, if you ask them
whether they are they might say

"no, I'm not doing that".

But, then they go "ooh
yeah, [inaudible]".

So, you know there are things
that men are very capable

of nurturing young children.

Another point on this one is that
men tend to look more nurturant

with young children when
there aren't women there.

That when there's not, and I would
attribute it to well, you know,

there's some role definition
going on here and I'm going

to you know play this role.

But, we find in general that
when there aren't women near,

men show more nurturance.

The second bullet, and this
could go on and on and on,

and some of this material is in
the guide that David referred to,

fathers make important
varied contributions

to children's development,
regulation and self-control.

There -- the way they play with
young children causes children

to actually control their
impulses a little more

or know what the limits
of that are.

We -- you know there's this
discussion of fathers tend

to play more roughly
with their children,

and sometimes mothers get a
little nervous about that,

or even Head Start staff get
a little nervous about that.

And certainly we don't want
that to go too far and --

but at the same time a
certain amount of that is --

helps the child gain
self-regulation.

Language development, well men
tend to make children work harder

when they say something.

And the classic example is when the
toddler goes to the refrigerator

and goes "ju", like that, the
mother opens up the refrigerator,

gets a cup and pours juice
whereas the father goes "what?"

And then the child goes "juice".

And the father goes "oh,
you want some juice".

And so, like I said
that's in general.

Some mothers are going to be
more like fathers that way,

some fathers more like
mothers, but in general kids

in the toddler period anyway have
to work harder with their language.

Same is true for cognitive
and emotional development.

Fathers have a distinct
impact on that.

That active play with
fathers, nurturant play,

actually supports cognitive
and emotional development

and there's pretty strong
research evidence to support that.

It, the -- in fact, the
relationship between,

this is a different piece of
research, but the relationship

between a father and a child
is not necessarily measured

by whether the child goes
to the father for security.

Certainly in good
relationships that happens.

But, a better measure, better
predictor of the relationship

between a father and a child
is how they play together.

So, that's something that
we want to encourage.

And then the final bullet is well,

it's good for a lot
of other things too.

When fathers are involved, when
other men are involved in the lives

of mother's children, then
mothers can be better mothers.

They can mother more
effectively and some

of that is economic, of course.

Some of it is, as with any of
us when we've got the support

of another person, we
can do our jobs better.

Fathers themselves report
that when they're involved

with their children, when they're
engaged with their children,

they feel better about themselves.

And that's almost self-explanatory
and then society as a whole,

people that are engaged in
fathering and men who are engaged

in fathering engage in less crime.

They're more productive
members of society

and there's a number of outcomes.

So, that's a lot of the research
in a nutshell and I don't think

that most people on this call need
to be convinced of this in any way.

But, it's nice to have some of
these ideas so that we can kind

of deepen our understanding of
what the effect of fathers is

and what the effect of being
involved in children's lives

and their programs is on fathers.

[ Background Noise ]

John: Oh. Yeah go
ahead David, yeah.

David: So, with this particular
slide what we kind of wanted

to do was to have our participants
that have engaged in a little bit

of interactive exercise.

Sort of, if you can,
if you're willing,

take a look at this picture and
then just type into the chat sort

of what you see in this picture.

We just kind of want to get a
feel for sort of is there anything

that strikes you as you're looking
at this father and this child?

So, if you could take a
moment to type into it.

I think we're going to
use the public chat.

So, type into the chat
your sort of reactions

when you see this picture.

So, we'll take a few
minutes to have you do that.

[ Background Noise ]

David: John, is there anything else
you wanted to say while they're --

while we're waiting for
someone maybe to type a --

John: Well, the picture
is so compelling.

I hate to distract people.

But, I would -- if anything I've
said about the research was --

struck you as gee I don't really --
I'd like to hear more about that,

I would direct people to the
guide because there's a section

of the guide that kind of
summarizes the research on fathers,

in particular the contribution they
make to children's development.

David: Okay, well it doesn't look
like we have any brave souls.

Oh, whoa here we go.

John: Okay.

David: There is -- thank you
so much Lada, a dear friend

of mine, former colleague.

Well, hopefully she still
considers herself a colleague.

John: She's -- she felt sorry felt
for you and had to write something.

David: I know, right.

She sees a picture of the
loving father with his child.

John: Uh huh.

David: Very interesting.

Now, is there anyone else out
there that sees something similar

or something different
that would be willing

to share it with the group?

We need one brave soul.

Sam Gourlay: Actually this is
Sam Gourlay [assumed spelling].

Unfortunately, we're having
a little bit of an issue

with public chat right now.

So, there are a lot of people that
are airing wonderful comments,

but they're unable to get them
into the public chat area.

I apologize for this.

John: Okay.

David: Can you see them, Sam?

Can you see them?

Sam: Yeah.

I'm going to try to relate
them through the private chat.

Thanking everyone for
directing them to me.

I'll try to push them in.

David: Awesome, thank you.

John: Great, great.

Well maybe we can come back to
that and move on with the slides.

You want to do that David or?

David: Yeah, that works.

John: Yeah.

David: So, in this slide it's
going to be an opportunity for Ed,

John and myself to kind
of weigh in a little bit.

John: Yeah.

David: I particularly like this
slide because it is illustrative

of our expanding definition
of the father's role.

We've completely moved away
from men thinking of themselves

as solely financial providers.

Each of these roles
have specific meanings

to fathers given their past
experiences, where they are

in their current lives,
where they are going

and of course their maturity level.

And I'll just start with
one of them and give John

and Ed an opportunity to chime in.

Advocating, you know, to me,
advocating is what should you learn

that you're an advocate
for your child.

It's one of those now and
forever roles, so John.

John: Yeah, you know it's
funny, David, when you picked

on the advocate role because
you immediately brought me back

to when my daughter
was born and she was

in the neonatal intensive
care unit.

And my job as a father at
that time was to advocate

for the wellbeing of my child.

You know it was to deal
with this healthcare system

that I didn't understand
and was really angry at.

And so, you know there's that,
there was the nurturer part

of that, the protector part
of that, but there was also,

like I had to advocate
for my child.

I had to know something, and
so I appreciate you starting

with that one.

The one that I pick up on
is this friend-playmate

because that's a very complex one.

You know we tell fathers "well,

if you want to be the
disciplinarian you can't be your

child's friend.

You got to be the father.

You got to be the discipline, the
person that provides discipline."

At the same time, you know, there's
a slash playmate and we know

that in the relationships
between fathers

and their children is often
a very playful relationship

in that the child, as early
childhood people we know,

the child learns through
the process of play.

So, I think that that one is,
that one's got a lot of complexity

to it, but it's one that we know
kind of fathers connect with.

So, that's my two
cents on that one.

David: Awesome, Ed.

Edwin: Yeah I'm here.

I would -- we had just
talked about this earlier,

and I was just talking to
one of the fathers here that,

or actually a grandfather,
about some of these things.

And we -- you know, a lot of
it has to deal with for us,

from a native side,
is our core values.

You know, again, you know,
building strength on the --

where we incorporate culture,
ceremony, traditions and healing

and of course humor is a big
part of you know native men

and of course all men in general.

And that -- we are
hoping that was going --

some of the teaching that we do
through spiritual guidance is

that it help us, you know, increase
and strengthen family preservation.

And that's what we're all kind
of looking for is offering

that family preservation and
for our children to continue

to offer those teachings as
they become parents later on,

role modeling some of
those things especially.

Again, you know a lot of
it is creating a safe place

for men you know to come and
talk about these types of things.

And a lot of it sometimes
doesn't always take place

in a [Inaudible] setting, but
a lot of it also takes part

at our fatherhood
program here at Laguna.

Again, it's again all about
strengthening, you know,

family relationships,
family involvement

and just being a responsible father

that again goes back
to the preservation.

David: Okay.

Edwin: You know those are just some
of the things that we had talked

about earlier, so -- John: Yeah.

The other day, Ed, you also said
something about how in Laguna

that the -- that men transmit
certain things culturally

to the kids as the
educator in a sense.

Edwin: Right, right and that's -- a
lot of the cultural teachings come

in from the [inaudible] side.

It also includes planting because
the planting doesn't only include

just planting of a seed in
the ground, but it also --

there's a cultural teaching behind

that where you're planting
other knowledge into a child

and you know planting
those important roles

that they will be facing
as they become adults.

So, those are some of the things
that growing and nurturing

of those particular things.

John: Wow, right.

David: You know, and John I
was thinking a little bit too

about what you said you
know with your daughter.

And I think one of the things
that we don't always acknowledge

or allow ourselves
to sort of appreciate

in men is they are afraid,
that they're scared.

They're scared of embracing
the fatherhood role.

John: Yeah.

David: Embracing sort of the
expanding definition of their role,

and also afraid of
negotiating systems.

I can't even imagine what it must
be, feel like to have a daughter

in a neonatal intensive
care unit and have

to negotiate you know
all these professionals.

And we, you know, as humans we
tend to rely on professionals

to make important decisions
that impact our lives for us

because we trust that they
have a particular expertise.

So, I think that as we continue
to expand our understanding

of how we need to be thinking about
working with fathers it's okay,

it's important for us to realize
rather that they do become afraid.

They are challenged by
fulfilling all the multiple roles

that we're asking them to fulfill
and that these fears are very real

for them, and they have to
acknowledged and supported.

John: Yeah that's great David.

I mean you're right on.

And I think that of course when
you're talking about fear in men

and society you know we
don't like to show it.

David: Right.

John: Right, we don't
necessarily like to show our fears,

but probably if you
ask most men who happen

to be fathers too what their
greatest fear is they're not going

to say their own safety.

They're going to say
fear for their child.

David: Right.

John: Which is probably
very in common with women.

But, its -- and, but do men
actually reveal their fears

in the same way?

Do they talk about them?

And I think that's real
[Inaudible] when you --

when a father actually will
say, you know, that I'm afraid

that my child isn't going
to succeed in school,

or my child isn't going
to be accepted by peers,

or whatever the issue is, then
you're dealing with a passion

that makes him a father.

Then you're nurturing the
nurturer when you can listen

to that and support that man.

But, if you're at the place
where a father is sharing some

of those fears with you in a way
that's comfortable then I think

you've made real progress
in your relationship

with that father, for sure.

David: That is a really
important point.

Alright, so I think
we had a few comments.

We're going to move back
really quickly -- John: Okay.

David: To the previous slide.

And I just want to share
what's interesting --

Lada sort of kicked this off
and she's obviously female.

But, then we had three men
comment and the comments were:

wanting to stay connected; a
father wanting to stay connected

to his child; the importance of the
skin to skin contact between father

and child; and a man
showing gentle love and care.

John: Yeah.

David: All very positive,
which is great.

John: Yeah.

David: So, I think we've
done a good job of sort

of getting people
excited and getting them

to celebrate what we're doing

and having them feel really
positively about fatherhood.

When Kiersten and I recently showed
this slide and sort of used it

as part of our presentation

in the Leadership Institute there
was some different perceptions

that came from a predominately
female audience,

which was really interesting.

For the most part participants
were supportive and they were able

to actually look at the
strength in the picture.

But, then some of the participants
seemed like the father looked

like he was uncomfortable.

He didn't really know
what he was doing.

The baby's face looks like
it's a little crunched

up in between his shoulder.

The baby looked uncomfortable.

I mean they took it to some
really interesting places

and it was almost as if they
wanted to take the baby out of

that father's hands, which
was really interesting to us.

And a question for -- from
us to the group would be,

how would you help this
father build upon what we see

in the photo that is a strength?

And if there are some things that
now that you're looking at it

from a different lens that you
would want to sort of change

or provide some support
and guidance around.

What might be the first thing
that you would say to this guy?

That's rhetorical.

I'm not expecting you to answer.

But, John you want to weigh in?

John: Yeah, I think -- I
mean any picture of a man

or a woman holding a child
evokes a pretty strong kind

of just below the
surface responses.

And I mean you see a baby and
you want to hold the baby.

I see babies in supermarkets, and
I try to steal them all the time.

I mean it's like it's
-- there is a response.

There's a very -- and I
guess if you had a response

and you didn't even put it down on
paper, or the computer I guess now,

is oh -- I would try to understand

that response before
doing anything, you know,

or as you're doing something.

But, certainly I like,
David, what you're saying,

so yea there's plenty that you can
see in this picture to work from.

And yeah, I -- actually
I immediately go

to what you're asking.

It's like well, how would you
start making a relationship

with his father based on
what you see right here?

>> Uh huh.

>> Yeah. David: And, you know,

I mean it's like just really
simple basic questions that's going

to give you some insight
into where this father is at.

What's important to him?

How he might be thinking
in that moment?

You know, how does
this feel for you?

What are you thinking when you hold
your child so close in this way?

Is there a particular reason
why you hold him that way

because it could be cultural?

But, those are points,
questions that will then begin

to generate some really significant
conversations with that father.

John: Yeah, yeah, great.

David: So, we're going
to move and John

as you -- John: Oh, look at this.

Look at this.

That's good.

I've seen this before.

This is the Parent, Family, and
Community Engagement Framework,

and I assume that many of you

on the webinar have seen
this very colorful graphic.

I think it's -- I actually
really like this Framework.

I think it puts together
exactly what it says that parent

and family engagement,
and you could --

instead of parent and
family, you could put father

in there, not without family.

Not without the parent,
but you could put father

and it would all still apply.

So, when father engagements
are systematic and integrated

across program foundations
and impact areas,

family outcomes are achieved.

So, and then hence you're
working on child outcomes.

But, this progression
is interesting.

And I almost like
to think of this as,

so the program foundations
they're like the nervous system.

They're the brain.

They're the thing that sends
messages to the whole body, right?

So, the program leadership is
like yes, we believe in it.

My brain believes in
father engagement.

I actually reflect on my own
relationship with my father,

and I want to make it a
priority for this program

and these are the ways I'm
going to support everybody.

And that -- part of the
point here is that everybody

in the system is engaging
with fathers,

the same for continuous improvement
and professional development.

They're kind of like --
these are the things,

these are the foundations.

These are what makes
a whole system work.

Kind of see the program
environment that --

the impact areas as
kind of the muscles

and the organs of
the organism, right?

You know, these are things
that get things done.

The partnerships with
families, with fathers are

where we get things done.

The teaching and learning, the
partnerships with other agencies

and certainly creating
a welcoming environment

for fathers is a large
piece of what we need

to do to send that message.

But, if you notice along
the top, the arrow, positive

and goal oriented relationships.

Well, I see that as the
blood in the system.

That's the circulatory system.

That's what keeps everything
refreshed and going.

Maybe the metaphor
doesn't work that well.

I don't know.

But, the -- I don't want to
neglect that arrow at the top

because for all these pieces
to work together, for this body

to work together, we've got to
reflect on our relationships

with men who have their
children in our program.

That we have to keep
that blood flowing

by constantly giving it
oxygen, by refreshing it,

and that is through
our relationships

with these fathers whether
it's at the drop off,

whether it's in -- at a picnic.

Whether it's sending a
document home or calling home.

Whether -- you know
in so many ways --

Ed did you want to say something?

Was that -- I just
heard somebody's voice.

Okay, so-- Edwin: No John
I was muted there, sorry.

John: Okay.

So, in any case, I think in
every one of these elements

and the outcomes you can
see specific kind of things

that we can do with fathers, family
wellbeing as an outcome area.

Well, one of the things that
I think I've seen in programs

that do very well with fathers
is that they acknowledge

that these men also need to
feel good as men in our society

if they're going to do
a good job as fathers.

So, and we talked about this the
other day when we were planning

that this is an important
piece too.

It doesn't just mean that we
scrutinize fathers and expect them

to be nurturant and play
with their children.

But, we also want
them to be supported

in who they are themselves and
how they feel about themselves

as competent human
beings in this society.

So -- Edwin: So -- John:
Yeah, go ahead Ed, yeah.

Edwin: Yeah, again just talking
about the program leadership,

the continuous program improve --

all the things that
you have up there.

I think that's where we're at right
now with supporting the fathers

in those things because, you
know, again, the more you're --

again it goes back into our core
values of what we just talked

about the strengths, to build
upon those strengths too

for family preservation.

Right now within our
process, again,

since we've had this
fatherhood initiative,

but we've had some challenges,
but still yet we're --

I think the most important
thing is to try to make sure

that we encourage fathers to
come in and be a part of their --

the whole cycle for the educational
piece, school readiness.

John: Uh huh.

Edwin: You know, again,
we do that through --

we have a lot of dads now
that are coming to program,

I don't know what they have to
do with the fatherhood program,

but I think it's just making
more making the men feel more

comfortable and setting -- by
setting goals that they're able

to you know come up with the
family priority goal worksheet

screening tools.

And again, very involved
in ISSP or IEPs, you know?

Involving parents in those
things make them comfortable

and help them engage, I guess,

more so in their child's
readiness for school.

So, I just wanted
to interject that.

John: Yeah, that's great Ed.

When I was out in Laguna this
last year we were looking

at the transition
to school and you --

there was an event in which
the kindergarten teachers came

to the program and each was
in a different classroom

because there's a number
of elementary schools.

And what was -- one of the
things that was really striking

about that was I think there were
just as many men there as women.

I could be wrong.

You know, I could be
primed to look for that,

but I felt that there were a lot
of men engaged, just as engaged,

having just as many conversations
with these kindergarten teachers.

And it was great to
see, but it was --

I mean you didn't
have to look for it.

It was there.

It seemed very equitable.

David: Okay.

So, John we need to move on to the
-- John: Okay, sorry, yeah, yeah.

David: That's okay.

John: So, a polling question.

David: Uh huh.

John: Okay.

I need to see it.

Let's see.

David Jones: And yeah,
Natalie's going to load it.

John: Okay.

[ Background Noise ]

John: Right.

When thinking about
-- David: Hey John --

John: Do you want me to read it?

David: Yes, yes.

John: Yeah, yeah.

When thinking about father
engagement that is systemic,

integrated and comprehensive I
would say our program is beginning,

progressing, thriving
and innovating, or stuck.

And go ahead and answer
the question.

[ Background Noise ]

David: So, can we see the results?

John: Oh, there they
are just as you asked.

Isn't that interesting?

David: Um hmm hmm.

John: What's that mean
David, that umm hmm hmm?

But, 29 percent progressing,
that's great.

David: That is really great.

John: Yeah, yeah.

David: And we have five percent
that are thriving and innovating.

John: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: What's going to be really
important post this webinar is

that any of you out there who feel

that you are stuck please do
not hesitate to reach out to us.

If there's any way that we're going
to be able to provide some support

and guidance for you that is one

of the main reasons why
we're doing this webinar.

For those of you that
are beginning, kudos.

We hope that you're moving forward
in a really nice way and, you know,

you move onto a place
where you're progressing

and you're thriving and innovating.

But again, for all of you at
any stage of your evolution,

if there's some way in which we can
be supportive once you've looked

in at the resources that
we're launching this week

and you have questions about
them please reach out to us.

That's why we're here.

Natalie, thank you.

John. John: Yeah, I
actually mentioned some

of these things earlier that the
foundations are essential here,

and I think the question that
we just looked at is basically

about continuous improvement.

So, where are you in
relation to engaging fathers?

I mentioned that there's a lot
that can be done in the leadership

of a program to support.

I mean, if we go back to the
framework, we're thinking

of a systemic and integrated thing.

Well, that whole idea of a
dynamic system, an organization

as a system, the leadership within
the system needs to be fully behind

that and engage with that.

So, that's an important
component of it.

My experience with this
is that often the programs

that are thriving in relation
to this -- well first of all,

they almost always say --

the leadership almost always
says we still have a ways to go.

But then, I also find that there
really is a personal commitment

on the part of the director or the
manager toward work with fathers.

And I'm not saying everybody
has to make that their sole

and primary mission,
but I think that when --

what I found is that there's
often for the programs

that are thriving a real passion
in the leadership for this.

The continuous improvement,
going back to that, is --

this is part of this whole
idea of having a framework

and having a webinar like
this and having the guide is

that we can be intentional
about what we do.

We may feel that we're doing
very good work with fathers,

but when you're doing it in a
systemic way and an integrated

and comprehensive way that means
you're doing it intentionally

as well.

And so, that's when -- so yeah,
where were we five years ago?

Where are we now?

And where are we going?

What steps do we need
to take to get there?

David: Awesome.

John: Yeah.

David: So, this next
slide sort of builds upon

and expands upon the last
part of that previous slide,

the sort of professional
development piece.

Not to negate, sort of, the men
in the audience or in the rooms,

but I want to speak sort of
directly to the women in the room.

And then, before I continue,
remember I was the one

who said how instrumental
women have been in contributing

to the success of the
fatherhood movement.

So, now you know I'm getting
ready to be a little --

John: Yeah, but --

David: Professional
development is so tricky.

I can't tell you.

I've spent so much time, energy
and effort as a director,

supporting directors,
supporting programs around getting

to this piece of, if you're
really going to do this work

in a way that's systemic,
integrated and comprehensive,

it begins with the leadership
understanding that there has

to be this continuous
improvement process.

But it is grounded and it begins
with professional development.

So, this can be a really hard
conversation to have in programs

because I've never met a successful
fatherhood program that had a one

and done staff development
that prepared the staff

to adequately work with fathers.

John: Yeah.

David: In my experience when
staff have been trained and are

on board it is synonymous
with being involved

in the process of
supporting fathers.

Very basic, show up
and we can dance.

But, when they are on board
or willing to grow to do

that self-assessment
and wrestle with some

of their own more deep seeded
issues and/or challenges,

they are now engaged in the
process of engaging fathers.

You know, just like we have
to help men get to a place

where they were healthy enough
to confront their challenges,

we have to also help female
staff be healthy enough to know

when they require
additional supports.

And this slide sort of speaks to
my belief based upon my experience,

there's no research connected to
this, that when staff have sort

of said, "okay we're on board with
working with expanding services

for fathers and supporting
and engaging fathers,"

that they will engage in
conversations with them

that takes them a little bit
outside of their comfort zone.

Those conversations are going
to be extremely child-focused.

They'll be very specific.

They're going to be so self-aware
of how they're communicating

and what they're communicating.

So they're clinging to those
boundaries at an optimal distance.

Those anchors are really, really
important, but once they move

to a place where they're a little
bit more engaged and again,

they're doing the self-assessment,
they're wrestling with some

of their own deep seeded issues
and supervision or in therapy

if necessary, whatever
the case may be,

then they're a lot more comfortable
in terms of how they sort

of approach these
conversations with fathers.

John. John: Okay.

David: Was that you who put the X?

John: You bet.

David: Oh, okay.

John: But, I'll wait till
the elephant slide comes up.

David: Okay.

John: So, let's -- do
you want to move to?

-- yeah David: Yeah.

John: So we've got
a polling question.

David: We have another polling
question for you, because we want

to try to keep this interactive.

And I know that once we do
something that's a little bit

provocative we might
get more responses.

So, Natalie, please
launch the first question.

I'll go ahead and read it
as she -- oh there it is.

How comfortable are you in
building partnerships with fathers?

I am very comfortable.

I am mostly comfortable.

I am somewhat comfortable.

I am uncomfortable.

I am very uncomfortable.

So, this is sort of a way that
you can sort of privately weigh in

and chime in now on where you're
at with respect to this question.

We'll give you a couple
seconds for you to do that.

[ Background Noise ]

John: Somebody's whispering.

[ Background Noise ]

David: We have a lot of
people, so we're going

to give you guys a
little bit more time.

John: Ah, there it is.

David: Thank you so
much for calling in.

We have results?

John: Yeah.

David: So, it's taking my system a
little bit longer for them to show.

John, can you speak to them?

John: Yeah, yeah.

23 percent of the people

on the call are saying
they're very comfortable,

20 percent I am mostly
comfortable, 10 percent somewhat,

1 percent I am uncomfortable, and
zero said I'm very uncomfortable.

So, what this is that people
seem to be in a pretty good place

with building partnerships
with fathers for the most part.

I think that, yeah, really the
large majority are going I am

mostly comfortable or above.

And I think that's great.

That's great.

Now, being comfortable
and engaging --

certainly the comfort level is
important to genuine engagement.

But, as I said before,
it's not just comfort,

its intentional things
that we do to do that.

But -- David: Exactly.

And so, let's move to the second
part of that polling question,

which actually speaks to competence
and the way you get to a place --

I think increasing competence goes
back to professional development.

So, this question says, have you
received professional development

around building supportive
partnerships with fathers?

So again, we ask you
to please weigh in.

Give you a few minutes to do that.

I have received extensive training.

I have received some training.

I have received a little training.

I have received no training.

[ Background Noise ]

David: Okay, Natalie can
you do the honors please.

Oh, I think you're right on time.

Wow, so look at this John.

John: Yeah.

David: A little bit different.

John: Yeah, yeah.

No, like eight percent - so, of
the respondents says this isn't --

this doesn't add up to 100 percent.

So, if this were 100
percent of the people

on the call these numbers
would actually be higher.

So, if you -- like so 16, so 24
percent are saying "received little

or no training" and that actually
probably would need to be increased

if we were looking at 100
percent because we're only talking

about maybe less than
50 percent here.

So, that's a pretty large portion
that haven't had specific training.

David: And again, what
that could result in is,

once we have a better
understanding about what some

of the limitations are for
programs around getting

that professional development,

is ways in which we
may be instrumental

in providing some support
and guidance around that.

That sounds like we should
be getting some inquiries

and some questions around
how programs might be able

to build their capacity to do this.

John: Yeah, I think that
both parts of this question,

it's also a reflection
of who called in.

David: Yes, oh go ahead.

John: So, we've got people on
the webinar that have an interest

and perhaps even a comfort
with working with fathers.

And not surprising that they would
want or expect a little bit more

in professional development.

David: Exactly.

John: Yeah.

David: Okay, so the
social worker in me,

or I would not actually be
true to the social worker

within me -- John: Yeah.

David: If I didn't ask you
to dig a little bit deeper

with a few rhetorical questions.

And they're up on the screen.

So, when we talk about what
does it mean to really connect

with fathers, some questions
that come to mind is,

what are the potential benefits?

What, if any, are the costs?

What might be some
unintended consequences?

And are there any other
potential concerns?

John: Uh huh.

David: So, for me, just
to prompt some discussion,

I think benefits are --
you have the opportunity

to receive another parent's
perspective on child development

and what's important to them
as it relates to their child.

You have opportunities to increase
staff competency and capacity

to communicate with
and support fathers.

And then you're also
increasing fathers comfort being

in the program environment.

The more comfortable they
are in the environment,

the more willing they are to engage

in the various activities
that are offered.

What are some of the costs?

Well again, we sometimes
push and encourage staff

to work outside of
their comfort zone.

We want them to be
intentionally different,

which is not necessarily
always easy to do.

We want them to be okay
with the time that it takes

for programs to transition.

And we don't talk
enough about this.

You know, you go from starting
to progressing to innovating.

Those are sort of three
different points of intersection,

but there could huge chasms between
what it means to go from starting

to progressing, from
progressing to innovating.

And few programs I've seen
are at that innovative place.

And some aspects of what
they do may be innovating,

but not as an entire program.

Ed, you had talked as we
were preparing for this

about some unintended consequences.

You want to speak to
that a little bit?

Edwin: The intended
consequences, oh God.

I can't remember where
I was at with that.

We were just sitting there
talking about different things.

But, I think -- David: You were --
I can just prompt you a little bit.

You were talking about some of the
reaction of some of the mothers

and -- Edwin: Oh yeah, exactly.

You know, I know that
when I first came

into the program there was
really nothing geared to fathers,

and that was the whole
initiative behind this.

But, now that the strength of the
fathers has started to come in,

I think the women were feeling
a little bit left out and again,

that's where the consequences were.

Again, you know it's hard to
just, you know, really, you know,

to focus on just 100
percent of either or.

So, you know, that was kind of
a challenge that we're facing.

And so, the women started their
group up again, and again,

you know, it's good and
it's all well and good.

We all work together as a team,
but again, you know, it was like --

I think the women were feeling
a little left out of the loop

because more dads -- we were
actually having a lot more dads

coming into program and, you know,
before when it used to be kind

of pretty much women-based.

And even going on further out of
the Head Start program, you know,

we see a lot more fathers now at
WIC, Child Find, all those things.

And, I don't -- I'm not
going to say it's entirely

because of our fatherhood program,

but I think that men are feeling
more comfortable and in coming

into these types of environments.

John: Yeah, it's -- yeah I
think that it's a challenge

because it takes some skill
on the part of a staff person

when both the parents are there.

Who do you talk to?

And if you're talking
to the father --

I actually know a mother
who told me this is --

why are you talking to him?

I know the answers
to your questions.

He doesn't.

And so, you get into those
kind of gate keeping kind

of issues around the child.

So, it's harder to talk to two
people at once then to one.

So, I think the consequences
are kind

of professional development
consequences

and skill consequences
on top of it, yeah.

David: Any other potential
concerns, John, that you would --

John: Well, it may actually, and
that brings up the next slide.

You know, in dealing with men
who are nurturing young children,

there may be some
elephants in the room.

And, maybe I just stop
for a moment and --

this is an awful cute
elephant though David.

It's -- David: It is.

Edwin: It is Dave.

John: But, this, you know, what
is the elephant in the room?

What is there between women who
care for young children and men,

who come into the program, who
are the fathers of those children,

or the men in the mothers
of those children's lives?

And the larger kind of elephant
in the room, in my opinion,

in having done a lot of this work
over the years, is that all of us,

men and women, have, kind of,

previous relationships
with men in our lives.

You know, whether it's our
fathers, or whether it's that game

that so many people play from early
adolescence on, and in high school

about relations between the
sexes, in that those dynamics

of how you talk to men period can
enter into a conversation about --

that have kind of under the
surface when you're talking

about the care of a child.

And so, I think it's raising that
elephant in the room, kind of,

as David has portrayed it, as not
necessarily operating all the time

or preventing good
communications from happening.

But, I think we do have to
acknowledge that the game,

the various kind of communications
that go on between men and women

in our society often involve the --

you know, other things than
caring for young children.

And again, to bring that to
awareness is probably an important

part of a professional
development program.

David: It really is.

And just I think really a few
other important things to add

to it you've already said.

You know this brings
up sort of implications

for how you support families,
particularly fathers,

around substance abuse issues
and domestic violence issues

and even just fear issues
of what it means to connect

and build a relationship
given the sexual tension

that takes place between
men and women.

John: Yeah.

Edwin: David.

David: Yes.

Edwin: This is Ed.

Again, just talking
about the elephant,

I think from the native perspective
also again, a lot of it has to do

with our historical traumas.

You know again, you're looking
back at what men versus women,

what their -- what we're --
what is culturally appropriate

at that time.

David: Right.

Edwin: That's some
of the major impacts

of some of our programs here.

You know [inaudible] that you
know the elephant is right there

on your back, you know.

Again, that's where we're --

you know, we have a lot of
these social emotional issues.

And, all the economic health and
wellbeing of our children are kind

of compromised because of sometimes
those cultural -- I'm not --

in a sense inadequacies, or I don't
know if that's the right term,

but that's something
that sometimes we kind

of have to face here in Laguna.

>> Oh.

>> Yeah. David: Okay, thank you.

So, we will move along.

John, this is you.

John: Yeah, yeah.

I think that this area -- and I
love these pictures by the way.

The -- look at the engagement.

Look at like the man, the woman

and the kids all paying
attention to the same thing.

So much learning is
happening when you see that.

And I just love the
picture down below.

You can see how the kids just --

this child that's on
the carpet is just

like loving looking up at this guy.

I don't know what he's
saying, but it's --

he certainly has engagement
from the children right there.

The program environment, I think,
you might ask the fathers what it's

like to walk into your program.

The experience of a father
walking into a program

with young children
that's designed by women,

and I've got numerous slides
of program environments,

and I can put them up there and
say, you know, "is this comfortable

for most men to walk into".

The step across the threshold

into the program may feel
very different -- David: Yeah.

John: -- for a man.

So, I think it's very
valuable to think

about you know is this a
welcoming environment for a man?

That doesn't mean you have
to have like deer heads

on the wall or anything.

What it means is you know
having pictures of men,

having the size seats
somewhere that they can fit in.

And really, I think, you
can probably go to men

and have them walk in and see.

But, it's almost less a physical
environment than it's the, kind of,

interpersonal environment.

And, that goes back

to the relationships
on the framework slide.

Is -- is it a welcoming
place when a man walks

into the door with a child.

Since most of you said you were
comfortable you probably have those

places, but it's something again to
be -- to think intentionally about.

I -- the other one that's circled
here is teaching and learning

and I already addressed
the pictures.

But, when men come into
volunteer the classroom,

their interactions may
look a little different

than you would expect
when a mother comes in.

The instruction may
not be quite as direct.

It might a little bit wilder.

That's not to say that some women
won't come in and be quite loud

when they come into the classroom.

I certainly have seen that.

But, the frame is different.

The interactions may look a
little different and they,

as I pointed out in
the research slide,

those kind of interactions
have benefits for kids as well.

David: Awesome.

And so now we have the distinct
pleasure of having Edwin Cheromiah,

Sr. talk specifically
about what all this looks

like within the context
of a program.

So, Ed I'm going to
turn it over to you.

Edwin Cheromiah, Sr.:
Alright, thank you very much,

and thank you for having me.

I do appreciate it.

Again, this is just, kind
of, a picture of, you know,

really good feelings at the Head
Start with the rainbow showing,

depicting you know that
children are very important,

sacred in our lives here
at the Head Start program.

I just have a few
slides here just too kind

of depict some of those things.

[inaudible] okay.

We were talking about all the
things that we have just talked

about coming from the
beginning of the slides.

Here are things that we're
attempting to do here

at the program is to
make sure that we ensure

that we support fathers
in every way.

And, a lot of that has
to deal with, you know,

making them feel comfortable.

The picture on the upper left
hand corner there is a picture

of just some dads who were
helping with an activity,

and I believe it was
our Easter activity.

And, you know, the dads are
coming in doing that more because,

I think, the teachers are more
engaging with their fathers

as they're coming and they're
making them feel comfortable,

knowing that they
are important part

of their child's upbringing
and wellbeing.

Again, we always encourage
parents, dads, to come in

and show their talents and that was
just a picture they had taken of me

as I was talking to
the kids about music.

And there's other things that
we do in the culturally --

the cultural way of
things, you know,

our cultural traditional dances.

We encourage dads to come in and
sing songs for their parents.

I'm sorry, sing songs
for their kids.

They are helping making the --

our traditional costumes
for the dances.

They're making -- the teachers
are absolutely making them,

you know, feel comfortable here.

And, of course we always have the
challenges all the time still yet,

but I think that's
also helping them

with helping the men set
goals, set priorities.

And also again, you know if
a child comes in with an IEP

or [inaudible] you know the dads
are more comfortable knowing

that they can do these
things for their kids.

Like I said, we include
fathers in classroom activities.

We have literacy programs to --

where dads are coming in
and reading to the children.

There's also programs to where
we're teaching Keres language

to the kids and we have actually
in our program one, two -

two teachers that actually speak
-- teach the Keres language.

And we also have two
custodians and a male cook.

So we're starting to get
more male involvement

because of just the comfort
level that they feel right now.

And again, all of it is just to
ensure that the kids are ready

for the next level of education.

Again, on the -- we --

I also coordinate a
monthly fatherhood night.

And that's what we call them, just
simply as that, fatherhood nights.

And I have a grandparent here, if
you don't mind, I'd like for him

to kind of give an idea
of you know is perspective

on our fatherhood nights.

Wilbur Lockwood: Yeah, I'm Wilbur
Lockwood, and I'm a grandparent

to the fatherhood
organization here in Laguna.

And they been very instrumental
to spelling out different things

that need to be possibly addressed,
not only traditionally wise,

but how we can go ahead and
be a better parent, I guess,

is what it is, you know.

Nowadays we've got a lot of young
parents out there with kids that,

really, they don't know how
to run or raise as a family.

And, in order to do that then we,
you know, we all sit down together

and offer suggestions of what
we need to do, maybe possibly

to better each other in raising
our kids or grandfathering,

grandmothering our kids and also

that they can have a
productive life when --

whether they leave the reservation
or not, and go out into the world,

which is like when Ed
mentioned about seed planting.

You know, that's one of the things
that we try to stress that life is

like a seed, you put
it in the ground

and it grows and spreads out.

Well, that's basically how our life
is, is you know we put ourselves

on the pedestal and let our
parents teach us different things.

And not necessarily we try to
avoid all the bad stuff, but still

yet you know somehow, somewhere
they get in there and all.

But, we try to tell the fathers,
you know, try to live as an example

for your own kids
and love your kids.

You know it's not, not to
a point to where you --

it's embarrassing when you go
up to your child and hug them

or give them a kiss on
the cheek or whatever

and say, you know, "I love you".

And all the sudden we see
that on the reservation

because that's not part
of us really and all.

But, you know Ed has gone out
of his way, I think anyway,

to really try to stress that
to us fathers out there;

his nightly meetings that
he has every month and all.

If we could get more
fathers in there,

I think basically we can have a
better working relationship among

each other and among
their own families

out there in the community.

Edwin Cheromiah, Sr.: Right,
just some of the things

that we've been doing along
them with our father program.

And again, the expected
outcomes, of course,

is to overcome some
of the barriers.

And this, kind of, picture
depicts some of those things,

overcoming barriers to
improve positive involvement

in our children.

This is something just called a
jackrabbit shuffle that, you know,

that was created by Dr.
Clayton Small in the Road

of Life curriculum,
which we also use here.

And also it's culturally
appropriate.

It's educational, especially,
you know, again, it helps.

You know, it helps,
especially if it's --

and that's the parent coming in for
the first time seeing these things,

how important it is to drop
some of those barriers.

So again, that's all
to increase, you know,

just fatherhood involvement.

We are also developing
fathers and cultural fathers

and children's cultural
development.

This particular slide
here is a father.

This father is teaching
these children our annual --

it's called a -- it's
called the Corn Dance.

And it's, again, going back into
preservation of our livelihood

and hoping and praying for
rain so that we can plant --

the seed has been planted
will continue to grow

and also flourishes
back into the children.

So, those are some of the things
that we've been really working

at here at the Laguna
Head Start Program.

And again, this is just a group
picture of some of the guys

that have been here
throughout the years.

This guy in the center holding
the ribbon has been a very

instrumental part.

He no longer has children
here at Head Start

but continues to come back.

And he was one of the guys back in
'04 that started the whole program.

And the guy off to the
left-hand side behind him

on the back row there with the cap,

the big guy with the big
cheesy smile, he's also.

And the guy also, kind of, with
his hand over his shoulder is a --

oh wow, what's happening?

Did something there.

How I'd get out of that?

David: That's alright
just go ahead.

Edwin Cheromiah, Sr.:
He's one of the guys --

those are the men that have really
pushed this program along before he

came to Head Start.

It was first done under the,
the -- what was it called now?

The oh, PFS, Partners
For Success Program,

and they eventually
came here to Laguna.

But right now this -- our mission
statement kind of says that all --

summarizes everything
that we're trying

to do here at Laguna Head Start.

And our mission is just this,

the mission at Laguna
Fatherhood Group is

to support fathers interested
in contributing their skills

and resources for the development
of their children at home,

in the community and school
settings, all the things

that we've been just, kind of,

talking about all
throughout the whole slides.

So, again that's kind of
what we do here at Laguna.

And if there's any, you know --

I would encourage
anyone to give us a call

and we can always talk a
little bit more about this.

So again, that's kind of
my presentation there.

Thank you.

David: Yep, one more.

>> Okay, oh this is the
Father Engagement Resources?

Kiersten: Yep.

I think -- this is Kiersten,
and I know we're wrapping up.

We're probably going to go a couple
minutes over for those of us --

for those of you who want to stick
around for another five minutes.

We -- I want to just let you know
a little bit about the resources

that we keep referring to.

The Head Start Father
Engagement Birth

to Five Programming
Guide just came out today

with an information
memorandum to all programs.

Las Manos de Apรก is a set of
resources for programs for working

with Latino fathers around
supporting their relationships

with their young children,
particularly around literacy.

There's support group
curriculum and training material.

We also have a couple of
videos that we're sharing.

The Best Practices Series that
the National Center is doing.

This is the first in the
series that we're putting

out called Engaging Fathers

and Engaging Young Fathers
Through Support Groups.

These are basically -- they'll
be some facilitation guides

to support training conversations
and group interactions

with staff around, kind of, what
your takeaways from the videos are.

So, these are, kind of --

can function like exercises
in your program for thinking

about father engagement.

There was a -- I'm sorry that our
public chat wasn't working so well.

I appreciated some of the comments.

Janus McBride had
talked about, you know,

just really reiterating the point
that you really need staff buy-in

in terms of, you know,
getting father engagement,

involvement going.

Otherwise, it's a real struggle.

And there was a question
about the PowerPoint.

This PowerPoint won't be
shared, but the resources --

there are a lot of training
material in the resources

that we've talked about.

And you can contact us for
specific things that you're looking

for from the PowerPoint
if you're wanting

to support a particular
exercise, that kind of thing.

We'd be happy to share it.

So, David, I think,
if you want to take us

out with some summarizing points

about what we've talked
about today.

David: Sure, so our last slide
just really underscores everything

that we discussed, basically
saying that fathers are important

to their children,
which all of you know,

their families and
their communities.

You know, the relationship
building with fathers is key,

looking at the program leadership,

the continuous improvement
processes,

professional development, all of
those things that we discussed.

Utilize these resources
that we're providing to you

to really assess your family
and your father engagement.

Hold thoughtful conversations,

even some of the challenging
conversations

that you may need to have.

When we say let's have
a real conversation

and you know what that means.

You know, conduct some real
program planning on how to do this.

Make this integrated
throughout your entire program.

Engage in staff development.

Implement and evaluate and review.

And, celebrate fathers
and families.

This is our time to not only
do it just because it's June

and it's Father's Day approaching,
but fathers are so instrumental

to their families and their
communities and we want

to make sure that you're thinking
about that throughout the year.

I want to take this time
to really thank first

and foremost Yvette Sanchez
Fuentes, our fearless leader,

the Director of the Office of
Head Start, for just supporting

such important work; Edwin
and John for co-facilitating;

Kiersten Biegel, who
is an absolute gem,

and without whom I'm not
sure we would have been able

to pull all of this off this week.

Thank you so much.

The National Center on Parent,
Family and Community Engagement,

our technical support team at
I-Link, Natalie and Sam and all

of the participants who
joined us for this webinar.

It is extremely important
to note that we are aware

of the great work that's
taking place in programs

across the country and through
some collaborative partnerships

that you've established.

Our only goal is to
provide tangible resources

that can increase the likelihood

that your father engagement efforts
are not tied to an individual

or external consultant, but are
connected to an integrated system

of meaningful services
with fathers, children

and families, and we thank you.

Kiersten. Kiersten:
Thanks everybody.

John: That was awesome, David.

David: That was a wonderful
job all the way around guys.

Thank you so, so much.

Thank you all the participants.

I think people are
starting to sign out.

So, we don't have
time for questions

but I guess people will email us.

>> Okay, that sounds great.

>> Alright, thank you very much.

>> Thank you.

>> Thanks everyone.

>> Thank you.

>> Goodbye we'll see you all.

>> We'll talk to you soon.

>> Very soon.