Developed in Australia, this parenting group work programme is for fathers who are parenting a child with a disability – physical, emotional or developmental.They might be living with their child or having regular contact. This program supports fathers and their family and has been developed to complement existing services the families already receive.

The program is comprises of:

· Ideas for developing the Dads and Kids Activity Workshops
· 12 ‘Sessions for Dads’ Workshops

The range of session content allows services to provide 18 months of program material for fathers and their children before any materials need to be repeated. It is designed for fathers to be involved in selecting what issues are most relevant to them.

This training supports facilitators to target dads who have a child with a disability, and provide Dads and Kids Playgroups and a Dads’ Workshops in their locality. Themes explored in the Dads’ Workshops include:

· working in partnership with service providers

· juggling the needs of your family, work and your own needs

· balancing the needs of other family members

· encouraging your child’s emotional growth

· focusing on the future 

Hey Dad! for fathers of children with disabilities is currently offered 4-5 times a year in Australia through a partnership between UnitingCare Burnside, Centacare Broken Bay, The Spastic Centre and Lifestart.  It would work well in other countries.   

To find out more, contact Andrew King (aking@BURNSIDE.ORG.AU), the UnitingCare Burnside Training Manager based in NSW.  Andrew is a specialist trainer in group work and trains professionals throughout Australia in ‘working with men’.

Hey Dad! for the fathers of children with disabilities has been externally evaluated.  The evaluation can be found at the bottom of this article, under RELATED DOCUMENTS.  Right click on Hey Dad! Evaluation, choose ‘Save Target As . . .’ and the pdf should download.   

Hey Dad! Evaluation