Strategies to Enhance Father Engagement in Home Visiting: Results From a Qualitative Study of Dads Matter-HV

Objective: Fathers contribute to child and family well-being across sev-eral domains, and home visiting (HV) programs are an important potential service platform from which to engage fathers and families. To develop insights for improving efforts to engage fathers and mothers in home visiting together, we describe and compare assessment and engagement strategies used by home visitors trained in Dads Matter-HV versus those who were not. Method: This study examines qualitative data collected from 26 home visitors (13 from the intervention group and 13 from the control group) from five agencies in Chicago, IL, who participated in a randomized controlled trial of Dads Matter-HV, an intervention designed to increase fathers’ engagement in standard HV programs. Results: As expected, home visitors using Dads Matter-HV described using father-focused assessment and engagement strategies more often than home visitors who were not trained in the intervention. They were also more likely to identify mother-focused assessment and engagement strategies. Conclusions: Home visitors trained in Dads Matter-HV reported more spe-cific assessment and engagement practices with both fathers and mothers. Possible improvements for father assessment and engagement practices in home visiting are explored.