Healthy Start Engaged Father Program

Dr. Shawna J. Lee works closely with Michigan Healthy Start programs to develop, implement, and evaluate a father engagement program that seeks to: (1) increase fathers’ participation in Healthy Start home visits; (2) increase fathers’ attendance at prenatal and infant health appointments; and (3) increase fathers’ knowledge of infant health and developmental milestones. The Healthy Start Engaged Father program is particularly relevant because the 2019 Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Notice of Funding Opportunity announced that Healthy Start projects funded under this notice should serve 100 fathers or male partners of Healthy Start affiliate mothers and children. The Engaged Father program helps Healthy Start programs meet these goals through father-friendly parent education and home visitation by a fatherhood-focused community health worker. 
Learn about the Engaged Father Program from Dr. Shawna J. Lee, Director of the Parenting in Context Research Lab

ENGAGED FATHER TOOLKIT

The Engaged Father Toolkit (i.e., Involved Dad and Dad Zone) is designed to make father-friendly parent education available free of charge to programs that serve parents in Michigan. The toolkits are currently specific to each partner site, but we can tailor or help provide support in tailoring to other interested sites and programs.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Shawna J. Lee, PhD
FUNDING
  • Promoting Infant Health and Wellbeing by Engaging Fathers in Home Visitation
    Detroit Urban Research Center (URC) Planning Grant ($5,000), 02/2019 – 01/2020​; Research Team: Nikole Fox, Shawna J. Lee, Joyce Y. Lee, Missy Kloos, Aimee Cisler, & Ebony Reddock
  • Promoting Infant Health and Wellbeing by Engaging Fathers in Healthy Start Home Visitation
    Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services ($271,737), 10/2018 - 09/2019
    PI: Shawna J. Lee 
  • Testing the Feasibility of an Interactive Mentor-Based Text Messaging Program to Increase Fathers’ Engagement in Home Visitation
    Administration for Children and Families (Children’s Bureau) via the Fatherhood Research Practice Network (FRPN) at Temple University ($25,000), 06/2018 - 09/2019                                    PI: Shawna J. Lee
  • Promoting Infant Health and Wellbeing by Engaging Fathers in Healthy Start Home Visitation
    Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services ($272,755), 04/2018 – 09/2018
    PI: Shawna J. Lee
  • Promoting Infant Health and Wellbeing by Engaging Fathers in Healthy Start Home Visitation
    Funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund ($500,000), 01/2018 - 12/2019
    PI: Shawna Lee
  • Enhancing Perinatal Father Engagement in Health Care Settings
    Funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund ($92,390), 08/2016 - 09/2017
    PI: Shawna Lee; Co-investigator: Dawn Scharer
  • Genesee Healthy Start Engaged Father Program
    Funded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services     ($108,348), 01/2017 - 09/2017 
    PI: Shawna J. Lee
RELATED PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
  • Dr. Lee gave an invited talk to the German Youth Institute on the Healthy Start Engaged Father program: Engaging Father in Home Visitation Programs to Promote Child Socioemotional Wellbeing​ (2019, June).​
  • Lee, S.J., Grantham, T., Fish, Q., Miller, D.S., Keshick, J., Kloos, M., & Lee, J.Y. (2019, August). Engaging Fathers in Home Visits: The Healthy Start Engaged Fatherhood Program. ​Presentation given at the annual Michigan Home Visiting Conference. 
  • Lee, S.J. (2019, March). Engaging fathers in parenting programs. Invited presentation to Fathers are Parents Too: Broadening Research on Parenting for Child Development Preconference Meeting, at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Baltimore, MD.
  • ​Lee, S.J. (2017, August). Healthy Start Fatherhood Initiatives in Michigan: The Genesee County Engaged Father Program. Invited presentation given at the HRSA Healthy Start Regional Conference, Detroit, MI.
  • Black, P., Hart, S., Lee, S.J., & Scharer, D. (2017, August). The Genesee County Healthy Start Engaged Father Program. Presentation at the 2017 Michigan Home Visiting Conference, Grand Rapids, MI. ​
2017 MICHIGAN STATEWIDE MEETING OF HEALTHY START PROGRAM EVALUATION TEAMS
Healthy Start programs across Michigan came together to learn about innovative practices and unique perspectives from Healthy Start organizations statewide. Healthy Start teams presented on a variety of topics including screening tools, racial disparities within their communities, breastfeeding, and Community Health Worker interventions. Plenty of discussion followed each presentation, allowing the opportunity for attendees to share and learn about best practices emerging in the field, as well as to discuss implementation and evaluation challenges and potential solutions.

This event was hosted Dr. Shawna Lee from the UM School of Social Work Parenting in Context Research Lab and Jonathan Lawrence from Ingham County Strong Start Healthy Start. (View agenda)

Attendees (View participant list):
2016 MICHIGAN STATEWIDE MEETING OF HEALTHY START PROGRAM EVALUATION TEAMS
This event was hosted by Dr. Shawna Lee from the UM School of Social Work Parenting in Context Research Lab and Dawn Scharer from Genesee County Healthy Start.

Healthy Start programs across Michigan came together to learn about innovative practices and unique perspectives from Healthy Start organizations statewide. Healthy Start teams presented on a variety of topics including risk screening, breastfeeding, infant safe sleep, and the Genesee County Engaged Father Program. Plenty of discussion followed each presentation, allowing the opportunity for attendees to share and learn about best practices emerging in the field, as well as to discuss implementation and evaluation challenges and potential solutions. (View agenda)

Attendees (View participant list):

EMAIL

shawnal@umich.edu

Phone

734-763-6565

ADDRESS

University of Michigan
School of Social Work
1080 S. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

connection

​Dr. Shawna J. Lee is Director of the Parenting in Context Research Lab, which operates as a part of the University of Michigan School of Social Work.
​​© 2022 by the Regents of the University of Michigan. Do not utilize or distribute any materials found on this website without prior approval from the University of Michigan School of Social Work. For permissions or questions, please call the University of Michigan School of Social Work at 734-763-6565, or email us at parentingincontext@umich.edu.