Fathers Figure

Fathers Figure! Work and Play with Fathers and Male Carers via Kingstanding SureStart

Interim report – One Year On - Draft 1. Engaging fathers is not easy1 - Why work with them? SureStart Kingstanding has taken the bold step of committing time and resources to work with fathers and male carers in its catchment area. In this they are attempting to fulfil part of the stated aims of the national SureStart philosophy; to raise the achievement and standards for the whole family group. FACT - When in positive contact with their fathers, children grow up to have fewer troubles with the police and are less likely to have mental health problems.2 Yet many SureStart branches have chosen either deliberately or by omission not to work with fathers7 – why? Fathers are the major earners, they are out of the house all day, they already have enough flexibility and resources in their lives to deal with problems as they arise. Even if this truth were as widespread as its acceptance, it still would jibe with the aims of SureStart, derived from the U.S programmes “HeadStart” (1965) and “Early HeadStart”(1994). Our British version is being evaluated via a £16.9 million programme at the “Institute for the Study of Children, Families & Social Issues”, Birkbeck College. ISCFSI’s Director - Professor Jay Belsky – is a world reknowned expert on the effects fathers can hace on child development, and holistic childrearing generally. The National Evaluation of SureStart (NESS) has conducted a root and branch evaluation of how well many SureStart programmes are engaging with fathers.1 It has identified a number of issues common across the country, citing predominantly female environments and lack of any meaningful male presence in SureStart services. In a gender imbalanced climate the ongoing programming of work often unintentionally results in the marginalisation of fathers and other male carers.

Social policy makers have yet to come to grips with the changing and diversifying roles of British men, in the [email protected]

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Fathers Figure! Work and Play with Fathers and Male Carers via Kingstanding SureStart

inner cities and now in the outer ring estates, which Kingstanding typifies. The first aim of SureStart Kingstanding’s work with fathers must be to explore ways in which the reasons for and results of working with fathers can become the foundation for best practice elsewhere. Only by changing the way that statutory services are delivered at a national level can real change be made locally to improve real peoples’ lives. The second aim must be to create opportunities for personal change via exciting and educational experiences for the fathers in the area, enhancing the way fathers feel about themselves and increasing their ability to contribute to their children’s lives. FACT - In Kingstanding nearly 200 children are being lone parented by fathers4.

2. Who Does The Work ? Usually, though not exclusively, male workers are considered key for this kind of engagement work. Negative responses to fathers from female SureStart staff (and male managers) are documented repeatedly in SureStart surveys and evaluations,1,7,8 SureStart Kingstanding has shown a lead in trying to source male staff with the skill and temperament to work in the Kingstanding catchment. I have spoken to several dozen residents and a dozen or so professionals working on the ground through various agencies and all said this was beneficial. All the fathers and male carers I spoke to said that it was important to them to have a face that dads and other men could identify with. The initial work in the area was done by Lee, an agency worker recruited by SureStart. This is a very difficult position to fill, as it requires certified skills and experience, combined with credibility on the ground. Like primary school teaching this is a field that men do not tend to go into, and when they do they either charge to the top or move on through. Lee worked from August to November and did an excellent job on the ground, meeting fathers and making his face known in the area. Lee and I walked the

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Fathers Figure! Work and Play with Fathers and Male Carers via Kingstanding SureStart

estate and beyond at least three times, meeting fathers and other outreach professionals, and putting forward the SureStart agenda. Lee ran his Fathers’ Groups at the Ex Service Mans’ Club on alternate weeks, befriending fathers and discussing their issues. After Lee had moved on, we were lucky enough to have the help of Alan, the most active Fathers’ Group participant, volunteering to lead it between November and January. Alan, (who with his experience as bus driver beat all the other dads to claim first prize on the Karting day) lives on the Kingstanding estate, close to “The Pimple”, in one of the areas suffering most from poor housing design and “anti social behaviour”. Alan was the key to a deeper understanding of local life and the realities and expectations of local fathers. Alan took over the biweekly Fathers’ Meeting, but this had now outgrown its usefulness and relevance. We worked together to follow up Lee’s plan to create a snooker session, and while this generated some interest it finally proved unworkable. FACT - While volunteering at the branch Alan became interested in training to be a Fathers’ Worker professionally. Working Links picked up his reemployment contract and have given him the opportunity to retrain.

3. Prospects for Local Fathers - “Worklessness” at the root ? Outwardly, Kingstanding seems a pleasant and stable place to live and raise a family. It is highly accessible from central Birmingham, with well maintained public transport, infrastructure and roads. Land use is fairly well zoned, and there are excellent schools, shops, a library and a modern leisure centre. Many houses have their own gardens, and there is also abundant green space - yet it features so prominently in Government deprivation indexes3 The movement out of the area of the two major semi-skilled employers – West Midlands Transport and IMI - has lead to a sense of dislocation and disenfranchisement amongst local men.9 ‘Employability’ is the capacity to gain and keep a job, to cope with changes at work and in the wider economy, and the ability to get a new job if necessary6. Promoting the employability of parents is an important function of SureStart local programmes. FACT - Current research links parental employability with children’s mental health, behaviour and social integration.6 There is also evidence

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Fathers Figure! Work and Play with Fathers and Male Carers via Kingstanding SureStart

to show that children with employed parents do better at school and therefore improve their own earning potential in the long run.2 If you are a working man in Kingstanding you are 10% more likely than the national average to be in a profession currently vulnerable to downsizing3, and your wage level is also declining faster than the national average3. If you lose your job your chance of re-employment is in the UK’s worst 7%3. Twice as many Kingstanding men have never worked at all than are employed at a managerial level in any company.3 Kingstanding men have been particularly hard hit by the growing trend of employing flexible staff with lower overheads. In the sample group we spoke to – about 35 men - this was perceived as major source of anxiety – it seemed easier for their wives and even their mothers to get work – in supermarkets, as packers or in other casual occupations – than for themselves.9 This feeling of uncertainty and frustration impacts on mens’ health and learning prospects. On average, men in Kingstanding live two years less than the national average3; accordingly there are more men under 14 and less over 453. This means that the (so called) “family forming cohort” is displaced down the (so called) “population pyramid” – men in Kingstanding leave school, father children, grow infirm and die earlier than the national average. 15 Some men, especially young men, are opting out of what is seen as a “mugs’ game” and into gang culture; selling and using drugs, stealing scooters and riding them over the greenspace, etc. Of 28 offenders in a sample11 all were aged 10 - 17 and only one was female. Of 110 registered drugs offenders on the West Midlands Police database, 84 were male. 44 were under 21 and another 51 between 20-29.11 Working Links and many other agencies are now geared up to regenerate the area. SRB monies have been spent. There are many active partnerships such as RAIK - and other committed professionals working in the area, many of whom live locally. It is important however to engage fathers in doing something for themselves and their families. FACT - practicing fatherhood helps men at risk of social exclusion reengage with their communities and their opportunities in life.2

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Fathers Figure! Work and Play with Fathers and Male Carers via Kingstanding SureStart

4. What do Fathers know ? What do others think ? The fathers that we engaged with during the first year were, for the most part, white, working class and struggling to hold down a job while contributing to their family. In general they: • wanted to engage with SureStart at some level, even if they saw it as “just another initiative”9 • wanted a “conventional” life – a job, a house, a family, to be a “good father” even if they felt the odds were stacked against them9 • were quietly resentful about youth in the gang / counter culture They felt many younger men in the area have adopted an absent father approach; the mothers of their children living separately, usually with their child’s grandmother.9 • knew that they too could “play benefits” – but were looking for something that would give them self respect. 9 For many in the catchment, extreme rightwing politics have become a bulwark against feelings of anxiety. Despite being in the overwhelming majority, from our discussions it seems that working class white men feel excluded and disenfranchised and evidence exists of hostility to groups with agendas such as SureStart's5. Some local pubs and gangs – such as the “Kingstanding Ku Klux Klan” - are networking opportunities for right wing activists, and the BNP and NF polled 1633 votes at the 2004 elections – if they hadn’t have split the vote they would have won; Labour coming in at 1625 votes.12 More conventional outreach work needs to be done, especially targeting disenfranchised young fathers in the local gangs, to get a better picture of the situation. Fathers we spoke to felt that greenspace areas such as “The Pimple” are unsafe, or at least unwholesome, in the evenings, and traditional activities such as taking boys for a football kickabout have been marginalised.9 Regarding SureStart; working fathers, like working mothers, are constrained by employment in their involvement with their children. Working fathers told us that they

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Fathers Figure! Work and Play with Fathers and Male Carers via Kingstanding SureStart

are often so exhausted at the end of the day that were just too tired for any SureStart activity in the evenings. Frequently they work shifts, often as many as they can to bring in needed cash. Accordingly, after many hours spent looking after the children, wives or partners see evenings as "their" time – usually to go out and reconnect with female friends.10,9,16 Non-working fathers are of course able to access the services and activities put on by SureStart during the school day. They told us the barriers are in terms of perceptions – theirs and others – of male / female role models, or not feeling welcome. Several fathers told us that they thought that schools would be a good place to reach fathers, picking up and dropping off children, but we didn't see any evidence of this in practice.10

5. What are the highlights so far ? Nationally, the proportion of parents taking part in SureStart employment and training activities, even in the most active and encouraging programmes, is low.6 Those who do take part are almost exclusively mothers.6 We took six fathers karting in November 2004. This was as many as we could fit in the bus, and was a positive bonding experience. It is these dads who have remained in touch with us ever since. The bi–weekly Fathers’ Meeting from early October at the Ex-Servicemans’ club, while never a success, did offer us a “beach head” in the local community, with between four dads and no dads turning up each time. An offer to let use the snooker tables when no one wanted them ended up stalled, but the leafleting was a success with six “new” dads contacting Alan. We have interviewed and made contact with many local stakeholders and in particular people working on the ground for different agencies. This has been one of the most successful strands of enquiry, as much has previously been done in the area via voluntary and ad-hoc programmes which SureStart Kingstanding could support. It was in this way we found out about the Ikon Gallery Fathers’ Group at Warren Farm School, which is an exemplary

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Fathers Figure! Work and Play with Fathers and Male Carers via Kingstanding SureStart

organisation. Listening to the many local fathers and professionals over the past year and reading and collating a very wide number of texts and reports both on the area and fathers nationally has helped to synthesize an understanding of the situation on the ground.

6. What’s Next ? While much groundwork has been done it must be remembered that, in this geographical and social context, men form a “hard to reach” group, and outreach methods must be employed to engage them.7 We found no evidence to suggest a complicated network of “support” services or “special” classes for men was required. In fact, most men told us that they wanted exactly the same sorts of events SureStart Kingstanding put on for women, just targeted at them. It is this targeting – and also reaching the above mentioned excluded groups – that we need to approach next. The most effective way to do this would be through high profile, oneoff events or series of events, working with partner organisations or agencies to meet joint goals, such as those around smoking cessation, health checks, G.P. registration, keep fit, breastfeeding, childrens’ first aid and money issues etc. We need to exploit local avenues for information, such as the library, the betting shop (who put up our snooker posters) the video libraries, the pubs and other friendly and familiar institutions were local fathers feel confident and “at home”. Not yet having a public building gives SureStart Kingstanding a chance to permeate the local community and approach and include reluctant fathers where they least expect it.

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Fathers Figure! Work and Play with Fathers and Male Carers via Kingstanding SureStart

7. Bibliography 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

"Fathers in SureStart Local Programmes" (NESS, Aug 2003) "Psychological Bulletin" (Bakermans Kraneburg, 2003) "Index of Multiple Deprivation" (ONS/DETR,2000) "Census Area Statistics - CASt", (BCC / ONS 2001) Discussion with BCC officer in Kingstanding (Nov 2004) “Improving the employability of parents in Sure Start local programmes” (Meadows Garbers NESS 2004) “Involving Fathers” (SureStart 2004) “Engaging Fathers” (SureStart 2004) Discussions with fathers (2003, 2004) Discussions with workers on the ground (2003, 2004) “Community Safety Profile of Kingstanding” (Crime Concern, 1999) Mirror Group News (2004) “Kingstanding Ward Development Plan” (Birmingham City Council) “Youth Works Audit Report – Wyrley Birch” (Crime Concern, 2000) “Public Health Report 2004” (North Birmingham NHS) Discussions with partners of “SureStart Dads” (2003, 2004)

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