Lund’s origins in the late 1890’s as the ‘Home for Friendless Women’ and many years operating a residential home just for moms might give the impression that Lund only works with women and children. In 2018, however, this is definitely not the case.
All of Lund’s programs are family centered which means that while a mom and her child might be the main program participants – fathers, male caregivers, and other supportive males are welcomed and encouraged to embrace the role they have in building strong healthy families. Lund recognizes and celebrates the multiple ways that fathers and other supportive males can help children thrive.
In addition, the following Lund programs are available to fathers as the primary participant:
- Adoption – Both Lund’s private adoption program and Project Family recognize that families can take many different forms. We work with single fathers and male couples to grow their family through adoption. We also provide post permanence services after adoption/guardianship to any family at any time. Fathers are, of course, involved in this work.
- Community Treatment – Fathers are able to access Lund’s outpatient treatment for substance use and mental health disorders.
- Kids-A-Part – Lund works with moms incarcerated mothers at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility and their children and caregivers of those children in the community. Children sometimes live with their fathers or grandfathers while mom is incarcerated.
- Options Counseling – Birth fathers and male relatives /supporters of birth mothers are welcome to attend options counseling to receive impartial, confidential advice about pregnancy options.
- Reach Up – Lund is contracted with the state of Vermont to provide Reach Up case management services to young parents (age 24 and under) in Chittenden County.
- Substance Use Disorder screening and assessment through the Regional Partnership Program which helps families working with DCF due to child welfare concerns to access treatment.
The role of the father is widely recognized as being extremely important, but many moms that Lund works with do not have positive father figures or role models in their own lives. Communicating openly with the father of their children and learning how to parent together is often a focus of Lund’s counseling and family education work. “Too many of our adult female clients are the troubled examples of missing out on a responsible and loving father figure, contributing to domestic violence and victimization,” says Jean Townsend, an outpatient clinician at Lund. “Likewise, those who have committed crimes against them often lacked the same influence. The fathers I have worked with have been nurturing and present to their kids which is really crucial.”
What society expects of men can complicate being a father too. “Parenting children coming from tough beginnings can feel overwhelming and exhausting. Parents can feel isolated and alone in their journey,” says Melissa Appleton, Post Permanency Services Coordinator. “For some fathers, it may be harder to talk about these feelings openly because of societal expectations.”
“The more loving people surrounding a child, the better off they are,” says Heidi Wener, Kids-A-Part Community Case Manager, who works with fathers caring for children during the mom’s incarceration. “For those dads who have the skills and support to fill the role of two parents at the same time, the impact to the child can mean the difference between feeling safe or unsafe, in what to them is an unsafe world.”
Love, skills, and support are the key words here. Love, skills, and support that fathers show to their kids and that Lund can provide to fathers.
Happy Father’s Day from everyone at Lund.
