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Fathering After Violence (FAV) is a national initiative developed in 2002 by the Family Violence Prevention Fund and its partners to enhance the safety and well-being of women and children by motivating men to renounce their violence and become better fathers (or father figures) and more supportive parenting partners.

FAV is not a program per se or a quick solution to a complex problem. Rather, it is a conceptual framework to help end violence against women by using fatherhood as a leading approach. Using this framework as a starting point, the FVPF, our partners and other practitioners have developed culturally appropriate practical tools, prevention and intervention strategies, and policy and practice recommendations. FAV has proposed engaging abusive fathers by helping them develop empathy for their children and using this empathy as a motivator to change their behavior. It has developed an assessment framework (Link to PDF FAV_final.pdf) to help practitioners discern which fathers might be appropriate for repairing the relationships with their children. FAV has also introduced a reparative framework for those fathers who are in the position to start healing their relationships with their children in a safe and constructive way.

This work is rooted in the FVPF’s commitment to make the safety of all family members always its first priority and to support women and children who have been affected by domestic violence. At the same time, we recognize that fathers who have used violence often have access to their children and that, in some cases, this contact could be transformed into a positive and healing experience for the children. Giving fathers more opportunities for change and healing is an essential component to end violence against women and children.

Work with Batterers Intervention Programs

Starting in 2002, the FVPF partnered with three Boston-based batterers intervention programs (Common Purpose, EMERGE and Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Services), a coordinated community response organization (Dorchester Community Roundtable) and a child therapy program (Child Witness to Violence Program at Boston Medical Center). Together we produced Curriculum Guidelines and Bi-lingual Tools for batterers intervention programs.

Work with Supervised Visitation Centers

In the second stage, we teamed up with four agencies that provide supervised visitation services across the United States and are part of the Federal Safe Havens: Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Grant Program . The partners included Advocates for Family Peace (Grand Rapids, MN), Family Service Agency of San Mateo County (CA), Walnut Avenue Women's Center (Santa Cruz, CA) YWCA (Springfield, MA) and City of Kent (WA).

This partnership of "learning communities" developed a guide for working with fathers who use the centers; guidelines for conducting enhanced types of visitation; a series of multi-cultural posters to engage fathers; and the documentary film Something My Father Would Do: Overcoming Legacies of Family Violence .

Recent Developments

In an effort to continue and expand the Fathering After Violence Initiative, the FVPF has launched the National Institute on Fatherhood and Domestic Violence.

For more information on the Fathering After Violence initiative, please contact Juan Carlos Areán at 617-262-5900 or juancarlos@endabuse.org