QIC Newsletter

QIC News

QIC-NRF newsletters share the most current information and activities of the QIC-NRF and its fatherhood project sites. Newsletters will feature articles that explain the project, relate to the themes of the model curriculum, provide tips for dads, share lessons learned, focus on timely topics such courts, engagement, and domestic violence, and highlight our various partners' and fathers' success stories.

The QIC-NRF is proud to announce its first quarterly newsletter! The Fall 2008 edition can be access by clicking here.

The Fall 2008 edition includes these articles:

• Seeking Change With Quality Improvement Centers
  The Children's Bureau is testing new and promising approaches to supporting children and families through the use of Quality Improvement Centers (QIC).
  
  
• Welcome
  An explanation of the purpose and activities of the QIC NRF and an invitation to participate in the collaborative network by the Vice-President of the American Humane Association Children’s Division and Principle Investigator of the QIC NRF, Sonia Velásquez.
  
  
• What is the Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers?
  Reports indicate that there is little meaningful interaction between non resident fathers and the child welfare system. The QIC NRF is designed to develop more knowledge about engaging fathers who do not live in their children’s home and their child welfare system involved children.
  
  
• Meet the Sites
  The Quality Improvement Center for Non-Resident Fathers issued a request for applicationsh for pilot sites and sent it to more than 10,000 public and private child welfare organizations across the country. Here are the brief descriptions of the four funded sites.
  
  
• Tips for Dads: Advice to Non-Residential Fathers
  
A regular feature of the newsletter, the "Tips" page is designed to be printed for use as handouts to program participants. Future newsletters will feature "tips" for caseworkers, attorneys, judges, etc involved in non resident fatherhood work.


• Meet Marvin and Jeanett Charles
  Marvin and Jeanett Charles are the co-founders of Divine Alternatives for Dads Services (D.A.D.S.). Marvin has overcome a personal history as a foster child, a homeless man and a pimp in California, Montana, Spokane and ultimately Seattle.
  
  
• QIC-NRF Holds First Meeting With Funded Research Sites

The kick-off meeting for the QIC NRF was held in April 2008 with the partners and the directors, evaluators and facilitators of the four fatherhood research sites in order to coordinate consistent replication of the model curriculum and other program aspects.


• Researching the Interventions Needed to Engage Non-Resident Fathers of Children Involved in the Child Welfare System
  To increase our knowledge, partners in the QIC-NRF created a model program to be used for research into engaging fathers and their child welfare system involved children. The model program design includes two major practice interventions: 1) gender-specific first contact with fathers and 2) a 20-week facilitated peer support group intervention.