Program Goals

The goals of InsideOut Dad® are:

• Increase awareness about the elements to being good fathers
• Increase awareness about the elements to being good fathers
• Increase capacity or skills in caring for children and building relationships with the mother of their children while still incarcerated
• Increase pro-fathering habits
• Increase self-worth as a man and father

Logic Model

View the Logic Model for InsideOut Dad®.

Essential Components

The essential components of InsideOut Dad® include:

• It is recommended to have no more than 12 fathers per group and to have a co-facilitator for groups of 8 to 12 fathers.
• Each of the 12 core sessions and 6 optional reentry sessions follows a structured sequence of activities that build awareness and knowledge about the subject matter of the session that fathers use to increase their capacity or skills in caring for themselves, their children, and their relationships (e.g., with the mother of their children).
• Each core and optional session follows the same format for consistency and lasts for approximately 2 hours. Fathers use their Fathering Handbook during each session (e.g., complete fill-in-the blank forms and surveys/checklists) to enhance and reinforce learning.
• Sessions include activities that draw on the logical and analytical (left side) and creative and emotional (right side) parts of the brain. These activities combine to enhance fathers' learning because they require them to use all parts of their brain. This approach helps facilitators create a balance of activities for fathers who are most comfortable with analytical and fathers who are most comfortable with creative exercises.
• Facilitators should follow the sessions in order and the sequence of the activities in each session to maintain program fidelity and to effectively evaluate the impact of the program.
• Core sessions in the program include:
• Getting Started
• Family History and The InsideOut Dad
• What It Means to be a Man
• Showing and Handling Feelings
• Men's Health
• Communication
• The Father's Role
• Children's Growth
• Discipline
• Working with Mom and Co-Parenting
• Fathering from the Inside
• Celebrate

Program Delivery

Parent/Caregiver Services

InsideOut Dad® directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

• Lack of awareness, knowledge, and skills related to being an effective parent and father including how to improve fathering and parenting while incarcerated; poor or strained relationship with the mother (or other main caregiver) of their children; lack of knowledge about how to develop an effective plan for reentry into the lives of family and community

Recommended Intensity:

Weekly 2-hour sessions; the program may also be delivered in a shorter duration depending on the audience (e.g., 2 sessions per week for a total of 4 hours)

Recommended Duration:

12 weeks; program may be delivered in a shorter duration depending on the audience (e.g., 6 weeks with 2 sessions per week)

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Justice Setting (Juvenile Detention, Jail, Prison, Courtroom, etc.)
• Virtual (Online, Telephone, Video, Zoom, etc.)

Homework

InsideOut Dad® includes a homework component:

Fathers complete a session log at the end of each session that includes identifying strategies they will use to be a better father based on what they learned during the session. Facilitators may ask fathers to discuss how successful they were at implementing what they learned during the start of the following session. Fathers also create a Fathering Plan after the sixth of the twelve core sessions. It includes ways they will connect with each of their children and information they will gather on their children to become more familiar with them (e.g., favorites [animal, movie, food, etc.] and interests). Fathers refine this plan as they try ways to connect between sessions and discuss successes in subsequent sessions.

Languages

InsideOut Dad® has materials available in a language other than English:

Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

The facilitator’s manual for the program lists the basic program supplies which include a flip chart (or whiteboard) and markers; pens and pencils; and blank pieces of paper.

Facilitators should have access to a room large enough for up to 12 fathers and the facilitator(s) to sit comfortably. The room should also be large enough to allow for fathers to freely move around the room without bumping into each other or objects during the interactive activities that require movement around the room.

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

There is no minimum educational requirement to be a facilitator. It is recommended, but not required, that facilitators participate in a training institute on the programs. If a facilitator is experienced, he/she can purchase the programs and conduct them without training because the curriculum materials describe exactly how to conduct the programs. It is recommended that facilitators have knowledge of the rules and regulations of the correctional facility/system in which they will deliver the program before they deliver it. Free technical assistance is provided to facilitators whether or not they participate in a training institute.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual information:

• Brown, C., Bavolek, S., & Yudt, M. (2019). InsideOut Dad® facilitator’s manual: Core sessions (3rd ed.). National Fatherhood Initiative®.
• Brown, C., Bavolek, S., & Yudt, M. (2019). InsideOut Dad® facilitator’s manual: Reentry sessions (3rd ed.). National Fatherhood Initiative®.

The manuals can be accessed online at https://store.fatherhood.org/insideout-dad-programs/

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI)
  info@fatherhood.org
  phone: (240) 912-1269 or (301) 948-0599

Training Type/Location:

Custom onsite training or webinar upon request of organization; National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) also offers webinar-based trainings throughout the year that anyone can register to attend. The training schedule can be obtained at fatherhood.org or through the training contact above.

NFI also provides ongoing, free technical assistance to organizations and individuals that acquire the program with or without formal training. There is no time limit for this assistance. NFI has several staff qualified to provide this assistance. Assistance covers all elements of successful program implementation (e.g., recruitment and retention, effective facilitation, and implementation with fidelity). NFI’s Father Engagement Academy™ is another source of support. It includes free and fee-based courses that can help with successful implementation. For more information, visit academy.fatherhood.org.

Number of days/hours:

1-day (8 hours) and 2-day (16 hours) options

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

Additional References