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 to why they don’t get included, in a meaningful way, within our continuums of care that serve system-involved youth: child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health and school systems.

2. Ability to identify, using a family tree and historical timeline, the extent of the absence of the father as the other “half” of that system involved youth.

3. Learn the connection between the Pain in the Heart (PITH) Theory and the absent father trauma and how to reach out and include fathers.

Agenda 

9:30–9:40AM  Sign In and Introductions

9:40–10:00AM  Overview of family history and trauma with an emphasis on the absent father.

10:00–10:15AM  Group work practice on family trees and timelines.

10:15–10:30AM  Video about the Myth of the Absent Black Father and discussion.

10:30–11:15AM  Brainstorming and discussion of reasons that fathers are important in the healthy development of system-involved youth.

11:15–11:30AM  BREAK (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

11:30AM–12PM  Group work on identifying the barriers to including fathers

12PM–12:30PM  Discussion of the barriers to including fathers meaningfully

12:30PM–1:00PM  LUNCH (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

1:00–2:00PM  Applying PITH to the absent father trauma.

2:00–2:30PM  Cultural barriers to including fathers.

2:30–2:45PM  BREAK (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

2:45–3:15PM  Small group work to creatively develop strategies for how to include the youth’s “other half”.

3:15–3:45PM  Review & discussion regarding these strategies for outreach to fathers.

3:45–4:00PM  ADJOURNMENT

Meet Our Trainer

Pamela Parkinson, PhD, LCSW, is a clinical psychologist and clinical social worker, whose specialty area is working with youth and their families with an emphasis on the importance of family engagement and on the healing of traumatic attachment ruptures in work with youth, especially youth who we serve in our continuum of care: child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health and the school systems. Dr. Parkinson is also a certified PCOMS evidence-based practice trainer. She currently works as a child/family trainer and consultant to CBO’s in the Bay Area and Pamela has worked in level 14 residential, NPS, hospitals, and a variety of community-based settings including outpatient clinics, schools, diversion, kinship, etc.

This course meets the qualifications for (5.5) BBS CEUs for LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.