Engaging Fathers - Putting Lessons into Practice Part 3

"Engaging Fathers – Putting Lessons Into Practice" is a three-part series to share strategies implemented from three of the five State or county agencies: Los Angeles County, California; Hartford, Connecticut; and Prowers County, Colorado. Part three focuses on the strategies developed within Prowers County. The Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare (FCL) project sought to improve placement stability and permanency outcomes for children by engaging their fathers and paternal relatives. FCL implemented a methodology known as the breakthrough series collaborative (BSC). BSC is a continuous learning methodology developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement that is used to test and spread promising practices to help organizations improve in a focused topic area. Topics discussed include the following: • The flexibility and innovation small child welfare agencies can have in comparison to larger, more bureaucratic agencies • The collective accountability child welfare and partner human service agencies shared in Prowers County to engage and involve fathers and paternal families in their casework and prevention efforts • The "must-haves" necessary to spark and sustain culture change