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Impact

Following Young Fathers Further

The Following Young Fathers study is now being taken forward by Dr. Anna Tarrant, who has secured up to 7 years funding from the UKRI for her Following Young Fathers Further study. This new study is following up a sample of the young men who took part in the original study, and it will introduce new cohorts of young fathers in both the UK and Scandinavia, whose lives will also be traced over time. Any news and developments on young fatherhood research will be logged on the new website:

https://fyff.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/

Young fatherhood: HE aspirations, successes and challenges 2018

The study was delivered by Leeds Trinity University/LTU and the Young Dads Collective/YDC North (managed by Coram Family and Childcare) and was funded by the LeedsACTS! Partnership. The project investigated young fathers’ higher education/HE experiences, aspirations and challenges, whilst exploring the role of local practitioners and universities to enable better access, information and support for young fathers who aspire to enter HE or those who are current students.

In collaboration with the Young Dads Collective (YDC), this project had the following aims:

  1. Create a ‘HE Pathway’ information leaflet outlining what HE support is available (download a PDF file of the leaflet here - information correct at the time of publication in 2018);
  2. Invite young fathers, local practitioners and university professionals to discuss their views on young fathers’ HE aspirations, experiences and challenges (through focus groups, individual interviews and online questionnaires) to gain a better understanding of these issues and what support young fathers may need;
  3. Sharing findings with professionals within the local authority and more widely via appropriate channels.

For more details please visit the Leeds Acts website.

Project Outputs

Dr Carmen Lau-Clayton (2019) Young Fathers: Higher Education Experiences - Research Findings and Recommendations

Responding to Young Fathers

In May 2016 the Leeds Social Sciences Institute awarded £15,000 in funding to continue our work with young fathers.

The “Responding to Young Fathers” (RYD) project builds on the findings emerging from the ESRC funded Following Young Fathers (FYF) study, and related findings and analysis of the FYF data from the affiliated Men, Poverty and Lifetimes of Care (MPLC) study. The project is practitioner led and involves collaboration between local and national organisations who were original partner organisations of the network that formed as part of the Following Young Fathers study. Dr Anna Tarrant is the academic lead and is working in close collaboration with the FYF directors, Prof. Bren Neale and Dr Carmen Lau-Clayton.

The project consists of three interrelated work packages that broadly seek to extend and improve policy and practice with young fathers nationally; to increase recognition of the multiple challenges faced by young fathers; and to provide them with increasing opportunities to engage in advocacy and collective support.

If you have any queries about the on-going project please do get in touch with Anna (a.tarrant@leeds.ac.uk). We will keep this page updated with progress on the project, including announcements about our training events and impact activities.

Project Outputs

Tarrant, A. and Neale, B. (2017) Supporting Young Fathers in Welfare Settings: An Evidence Review of What Matters and What Helps, Responding to Young Fathers in a Different Way: Evidence Review.

Tarrant, A. and Neale, B. (2017) (eds.) Learning to Support Young Dads, Responding to Young Fathers in a Different Way: Project Report.

Work Package 1: Launching the Young Dads Collective North (May-Dec 2016)

Collaborators:

Forming a collaboration between the Family and Child Care Trust and Leeds City Council, this package is designed to roll out the very successful work of the London based Young Dads Collective (YDC). The Following Young Fathers (FYF) project demonstrates that young fathers are often marginalised and side-lined in professional settings, and that there is a pressing need to challenge - and change - the way that young fathers are represented and understood in society (Neale and Davies, 2015).

This was the key theme of the study’s final, practitioner conference – Seeing Young Fathers in a Different Way. One of the most effective ways to do this is to empower selected young fathers as experts by experience, to be supported and trained in advocacy work on behalf of other young fathers and to engage in practitioner training and consultation. The Young Dads Collective is designed to do just that.

This work package will enable a national expansion of the work of the Young Dads Collective, rolling out good practice to the north of England. One of the fundamental issues identified in the FYF study was the problem of recognising young fathers, identifying them and responding positively to them. This work package will directly address this finding by giving effective voices to a wider constituency of young fathers.

Work Package 2: Continuity of support for young offender fathers: an initiative to support resettlement following custody (May-Dec 2016)

Collaborators:

In collaboration with an award winning nurse practitioner at the Oakhill STC, this package aims to improve continuity of support for vulnerable young offender fathers when they are released back into the community. Part of the focus would be to improve inter-agency collaboration between those working within and beyond the secure estate. Findings from the FYF study highlight the effectiveness of specialist support for vulnerable young fathers in custodial settings (Neale and Ladlow, 2015).

Such support can do much to create a sense of identity as a father for these young men and can provide a positive alternative to their identity and reputations as criminals. Continuity of care is sorely needed if these fledgling identities are to be consolidated. This requires inter-agency co-operation and working, in a context where much professional thinking is currently driven by a risk/surveillance mind set.

The pilot would track and support a small group of young fathers/expectant fathers who have engaged well with professional support in custody, as they make the transition to resettlement. The findings will also inform the development of the training package for wider use by professionals working in and beyond the secure estate.

Work Package 3: Developing practitioner training: responding to young fathers in a different way (Dec 2016 – Apr 2017).

The FYF study found that while pockets of good practice exist, there is no coherent or unifying policy or professional approach to recognising young fathers and understanding and responding to their needs (Neale and Davis, 2015). The focus of this work package will be two-fold, including:

  • a review of existing training provision, initially in the North of England, to see where there may be gaps and
  • developing and piloting a one-day training event for practitioners working with young fathers/young parents/young men.

The training event will be developed to fill these gaps and has the scope to be delivered more widely across different local authorities to increase the capacity of professionals in health and social care to support young fathers. This work package will integrate the FYF findings with evidence and good practice developed from the other two work packages, and will be practitioner led.

It will involve other members of the FYF practitioner network including academic and non-academic partners, who will act as consultants to the development of the training. In the process, the existing FYF network will be strengthened and consolidated.

Once the training has been piloted, there is an opportunity to roll it out nationally via the existing FYF network, with the support of key partner organisations such as Working With Men (secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fatherhood) and the Teenage Pregnancy Knowledge Exchange.