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The past 10 years have been a period of enormous growth in efforts around father involvement, with local government systems attempting to meet the needs of the diverse father population. The Bay Area Fathering Indicators Data System (BAYFIDS) Project is designed to track and analyze the operation and impact of fathering programs and describe the nature of local and county policy efforts around fatherhood in the San Francisco Bay Area. This report expands in two ways on an earlier study conducted in 2000: (1) it offers through the directory an updated count of programs; and (2) it addresses directly policy changes in the nine counties as they relate to program development, implementation, expansion, and devolution. Chapter 1 of the report, the BAYFIDS directory, updates the findings regarding programs in the Bay Area as of Spring 2003. Chapter 2 summarizes data from telephone surveys with policymakers in county child support services, social services agencies, and county departments of education and with practitioners representing the "master group" from the 2000 study; the survey was to determine ways in which they have experienced change, problems, and possibilities. Chapter 3 discusses cross-cutting themes and offers conclusions. Survey findings revealed that fatherhood, male involvement, and unwanted fatherhood prevention were of relatively low priority for the social service agencies in the Bay Area. Practitioners suggested that child and family service organizations may have internalized some key ideas from the fatherhood movement and integrated them into their programs. Balanced against this picture for fathering efforts was the retrenchment found in publicly sponsored father support programs. (KB)

In the past decade, the nature of fathers' involvement with their children and families has become an important topic, with government agencies and nonprofit groups developing programs to help men manage the challenges of fatherhood. This report presents the first set of findings from the Bay Area Fathering Indicators Data System (BAyFIDS) Project, designed to track and analyze the operation and impact of fathering programs and describe the nature of local and county policy efforts around fatherhood in the San Francisco Bay Area. The report provides a baseline on participant needs, program and agency guidelines and effort, and the attitudes and values that stakeholders (program directors and staff, program participants, and county/municipal policymakers) bring to the issue of responsible fathering and family support. Following an introduction describing the emerging field of fatherhood and families, the report is presented in six chapters. Chapter 1 describes the municipal and regional context for the study, noting that a key concept in the focus on father involvement is responsible fathering. Chapter 2 describes the methodology of the study: site visits and focus groups with program staff and selected participants; and semi-structured telephone interviews with county-level staff and social and family services, public educational institutions, and the court system. Chapter 3 presents findings on the characteristics and needs of program participants. Chapter 4 provides a profile of fatherhood initiatives in the Bay Area, discussing their primary objectives, the services they provide, and the resources they possess. Chapter 5 discusses the findings on the role of county and government agencies in emerging fatherhood initiatives across the nine counties in the study. Chapter 6 contains a general conclusion that includes recommendations for programs, county agencies, and funding agencies. Three appendices include the survey instruments and national resources on fathers and families. (Contains 22 references.) (KB)

A national survey identified the extent of computer technology use in adult literacy programs and explored the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of adult literacy providers in implementing technology. It also conducted a systematic inventory of the types of computer technology currently in use in adult literacy programs. In recent years, a number of studies had suggested that the expansion of computer technology in adult literacy programs was essential to meet the adult literacy needs of the nation. Of 1,633 surveys that were mailed, 515 responses were received from California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, and Delaware. Findings indicated that many adult literacy programs had a firm foothold in technology, using it for administrative, instructional, assessment, and networking purposes. Although there was still resistance and questioning about the effectiveness of using technology among some providers, the overall level of interest in using technology was extremely high. The majority of survey respondents had come to view the use of technology as an opportunity rather than as an imposition and were interested in expanding its use. The survey also concluded there were major issues of access to technology, technology funding, and staff expertise that must be addressed to accomplish any significant expansion of technology in adult literacy. (Appendixes contain 33 references, 38 data tables, and 9 figures.) (YLB)