Unique program supports young dads in bid to reduce domestic violence risk

A Calgary-based program is helping support a group of young parents that are often forgotten: young fathers. For the last four decades, the Louise Dean Centre has provided support for teenage mothers, but two years ago, program organizers realized an important group of people had been left out.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve looked into our program design and realized that we had a very significant demographic that was missing and that is serving teen fathers,” said Patricia Jones, CEO of Calgary Catholic Service.

Fathers Moving Forward is a pilot program currently being offered by Catholic Family Service at the Louise Dean Centre. Launched in September 2015, the program targets the biological dads–between the ages of 16 to 26 years old–of babies born to teenage moms participating in programs at either the Louise Dean Centre or the Calgary Achievement Centre for Youth.

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New father Josh Hopper, 27, said he’s found the program helpful so far.  He recently completed a series of co-parenting classes with his partner, 19-year-old Sierra Beres.

“It helped a lot with just being able to communicate,” Beres said.

“Just how to cope with each other,” Hopper added.  “If one of us had a bad day, we know now how to work with each other to keep our baby happy.”

In addition to the co-parenting classes, which are offered to both parents before the baby is born, Fathers Moving Forward also includes a peer support group for new dads, as well as financial literacy classes.

“The research shows there’s a direct link to an increase in domestic violence if you don’t support fathers to be appropriately and responsibly involved with their kids,” Jones said.

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Researchers at the University of Calgary’s Cummings School of Medicine and the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research are currently evaluating the Fathers Moving Forward program, tracking its long-term impact on participating families.

If the program is found to have a significant impact, organizers hope what they’re doing can eventually be replicated in cities across the country.