Missing Fathers: The Absent Parent Trauma with System Involved Youth

Pamela Parkinson, Ph.D., LCSW

Training Description

Develop a better understanding of the importance of fathers to the youth with whom we work in our systems of care.  This epidemic of the often-absent father doesn’t mean that the father doesn’t fulfill an important role in the system involved youth and family’s life.  We often leave the paternal side of the youth’s family completely out of service and support planning with youth in out of home care even though the father is very much a part of the youth’s “picture” and impacts their day-to-day functioning. Remember, the pain of the missing father is a big reason for the behaviors that we are trying to ameliorate so we can’t forget this area of pain if we want to make the most positive impact on outcomes for system involved youth.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify the reasons that fathers are important and the barriers as…