Dad Test Audit Helps Organisations Reach More Family Men

A unique programme designed to help organisations improve the services they offer to family men is being launched across the country this month after a successful pilot. The Dad Test Audit from Fathers Plus helps nurseries, schools, childcare providers and Children’s Centres show how effective they are in meeting the needs of male carers. The audit gives organisations a structured, fast and cost-effective way of demonstrating that they meet statutory requirements to include fathers and men, and provides evidence to support statutory reports such as OFSTED. David Van der Velde, Service Manager at Children North East Fathers Plus, said: “It is extremely important that settings can evidence how inclusive their services are of men. Performance monitoring frameworks in schools, Children’s Centres and other settings are becoming increasingly focussed on gender issues and in particular on the efforts that services are making to address the relative exclusion of fathers and men. “By using the Dad Test Audit Toolkit organisations will be able to identify their individual strengths and share examples of best practice with other institutions. The toolkit supports organisations to develop an action plan to make services more inclusive.” The Dad Test Audit focuses on six key areas including leadership support, workforce development, father-friendly communications and marketing, recruiting fathers into services and developing integrated services for male carers and father-friendly environments. As part of the programme staff from each setting are given the opportunity to take part in a series of training sessions to help them complete the audit. The settings will then receive a set of recommendations and actions to help them create a positive male-inclusive atmosphere. The Dad Test Audit, which has grown from the Think Fathers campaign, aims to improve family services for all male carers, including fathers-to-be, dads, grandads, step-dads, uncles and brothers. The audit is led by a team of professionals with over 12 years of hands-on experience of working with fathers and is available to all organisations which offer services to families. Any interested groups or organisations can sample the audit tool for free online and find out more by visiting www.fathersplus.org

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