The PACT Fathers' Network

An exciting new network of men supporting men is steadily growing in Delaware. The PACT Family Support Network offers groups for fathers and has a Fathers’ Leader Certification program to train leaders for activities for men and boys. The PACT Family Support Network strategy is a cost-effective way to share information, build confidence and develop leaders.  Sound child development information combined with father-to-father support and empowerment opportunities makes the Fathers’ Network very popular with dads.  In PACT activities, fathers gain information, regain hope, and get a better picture of their importance to their children. They report that they think better and make better decisions after they have had a chance to be listened to deeply, with caring and respect.  In The PACT Family Support Network, the men listen well to one another. 

It has been through listening that The PACT Family Support Network learned to create positive and hopeful activities that fathers, young men, and adolescent males want to attend.  When the first group was started, fathers showed up, loved it, and started bringing other fathers to the group. With the information and support that they received, they were able to make major changes in their lives and become much more loving, involved, and capable dads. They reported improved relationships with their children, as well as with the mothers of their children. The number of groups multiplied and the Fathers’ Leader Certification training and the ongoing Fathers’ Network began. 

In The PACT Family Support Network, we know that men are good and that if they get the information and support they need, they will be great fathers.

We believe that now is the time in the society to get things right for men so that an ever-increasing number of fathers can be caring, involved, and responsible. Toward this end, we are developing a large corps of grassroots men’s leaders. 

Included among our Fathers’ Network activities are: 1) the Head Start Fathers’ Leadership Training Initiative, 2) workshops, groups, and father/child activities, 3) classes and father/child playdays for fathers soon to be released from prison, and 4) the Fathers’ Leadership Certification Program. Our community partners include New Directions Early Head Start in the UD’s Center for Disability Studies, the Delaware Community Foundation, The Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, The Rodel Charitable Foundation, and The Delaware Parents’ Association.  As men continue to demonstrate their commitment to the development of the Fathers’ Network, the Network steadily grows, influencing ever more children.