Doing All Dad's stuff
Young dads are taking part in a ten-week men’s parenting programme in Whangarei and are learning new skills to help them in their important role.
Daniel Hughes, the Early Years Hub coordinator at the Pulse in Whangarei, says, "We have had a great response, so much that we are looking at how we can continue the workshops."
The workshops called DADS (Doing all Dad’s Stuff) have been designed to target young men under the age of 25 years who normally don’t go to men’s programmes, and who are dealing with life stresses.
Daniel says, "We have one young dad affiliated to a gang who regularly turns up and others who are unemployed or on ACC. "
"We have been blown away by the level of engagement by the young men, especially after the first workshop when they were asking what’s next and can we learn more about relationships and health."
The first two workshops have covered positive parenting, pregnancy from a man’s perspective, setting boundaries and goals, habits of parenting, relationships and the development of the brain.
The point of difference in the DADS workshops is that a man delivers the programme and the young men are encouraged to bring along a support person to the first workshop session. The young dads also get to decide what some of the programme will cover and organise a ‘whanau day’ to encourage ongoing dad/whanau interactions and celebrate being a dad.
Daniel says that because of the Pulse set up and his Early Year Hub Coordinator role they can also link young men into the support and services they need. "For example we have linked a young man into the training he needs, helped a young couple get a place of their own, and assisted with parenting strategies for a court custody requirement. "
The initiative came out of an innovation fund which encouraged Hubs at the establishment stage to see if there were any gaps in the area and come up with new ways of addressing them.
Daniel says, "Ideally we like to work with these young dads for another year, and start the process all over again with a new set of young dads. We are looking at how we can do this but in the meantime, look out for our painted van with DADS all over it at the next community family day."
There are 13 Early Year hubs around the New Zealand. The hubs coordinate early year services, like Well Child, early education and parenting to families that don’t readily access social and health services and have children aged pre-birth to six-years-old.
For more information, go to Early Years Service Hubs.
