Written by Sandra Hollett, CEO of Partnership for Families, Children and Adults

In the world of social services, gender plays a large role in how programs are designed, how and who delivers services, and the overall effectiveness of the services in an individual’s or family’s life circumstance. Within the services of Partnership for Families, Children and Adults, we strive to be “culturally competent” – gender is one aspect of this.

Partnership’s standards for cultural competence include the advancement of service models that have relevance for the range of needs of diverse client populations. Our workers are encouraged to develop an understanding of their own personal, cultural values and beliefs as one way of appreciating the importance of cultural identities in the lives of people. Our workers are keenly aware of the deleterious effects of racism, sexism, ageism, ethnocentrism, classism, etc. on clients’ lives and the need for social advocacy and social action to better empower diverse clients and communities.

In order to truly empower clients, our workers are aware of the effect of social programs on diverse clients, advocating for and with clients whenever appropriate. Empowerment involves facilitating the client’s connection with their own power – consciousness raising, developing a sense of personal power, and respectful collaboration to promote mutually agreed-on goals for change.

Social services in general aim to achieve gender equity, rather than equality. Gender equality is based on the premise that women and men should be treated in the same way – failing to recognize that equal treatment will not produce equitable results because of the different life experiences of each gender. Gender equity takes into consideration these differences and recognizes that different approaches may be needed to produce outcomes that are equitable.

The Partnership’s service offer many options designed for and sensitive to females – domestic violence shelter and services, sexual assault crisis services, teenage pregnancy and teenage motherhood/parenting services. Like many non profits, we are exploring more service options for males. Adult males in particular are an underserved client population.

One example of this is the “Promoting Responsible Fatherhood” national initiative which makes committed fatherhood a priority. Children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior compared to children who have uninvolved fathers. Half of all children today spend some part of their life apart from one or both of their parents, and most often the parent that does not live with the child is the father. The trends for new social service programs for males include: strengthening the role of non-custodial fathers, abstinence education, assistance programs for fathers in the criminal justice system, and programs aimed at reducing family violence committed by men.

The principal implication for fathering programs is that these programs should involve a wide range of interventions, reflecting the multiple domains of responsible fathering, the varied residential and marital circumstances of fathers, and the array of personal, relational, and environmental factors that influence men as fathers.

The Partnership is assessing our internal capacity to increase the “father friendliness” of our organization. A few examples of this include:

1. Encourage non-custodial parents’ participation in residential youth activities (most non-custodial parent are fathers).

2. Provide programs that have equal regard for parenting approaches typical of fathers and mothers.

3. Train staff in gender differences in communication styles.

4. Develop resources for helping fathers improve their economic status by providing workforce development activities and encouraging education, including career-advancing education.

As this capacity building progresses, the results extend beyond just being a culturally competent or gender equitable organization- to being an organization that can truly meet the dynamic needs of families and empower children to build better lives.