Part of fatherhood is connecting to your own inner child.
Blueprint for Fatherhood.
“Fathers influence children in important ways. Sons model themselves after their fathers; daughters model their relationships with men by their relationship with their fathers and their father’s influence.”
The impact of a father figure on a child—whether present or absent, helpful, or harmful—lasts a lifetime.
Research suggests that positive father involvement contributes to a child’s emotional and social development, cognitive and language development, success in school, protection from risky behaviours and situations, and positive outcomes in adolescence and adulthood.
However, the nature of the relationship between fathers and children—as well as between father figures and those under their care or influence—continues to be understudied and underfunded in health, education, and community settings.
Blueprint is establishing an interdisciplinary Fatherhood Research Initiative to build and mobilize new models that strengthen the role of fathers and father figures in children’s lives. Outcomes from our research will inform the development of a program aimed at supporting the nurturing roles of current and expectant fathers, as well as father figures, including mentors, coaches, and those in the parasocial realm.
The purpose of this program is to improve the health and well-being for program participants, their children, their families and their communities. Our Blueprint for Fatherhood program is expected to be offered as a standalone program in early 2025.