New Fidelity Checklists for NFI Programs!

I’m pleased to announce the release of fidelity checklists for the 24/7 Dad®, InsideOut Dad®, and Understanding Dad® programs of National Fatherhood Initiative®(NFI)!

What’s a fidelity checklist, you ask?

In the context of fatherhood programs:

• It’s a tool that researchers and program managers use to observe program sessions—either some or all of them—to ensure that facilitators facilitate a program as the program’s creators designed it to be facilitated.
• Researchers use a fidelity checklist to help evaluate a program. By observing program sessions—either a sample or all of them—they can determine whether the impact of a program on dads was affected positively or negatively by the quality of facilitation. If, for example, a facilitator doesn’t cover a key concept measured by an impact evaluation survey, they know the facilitator contributed to a desired outcome that wasn’t achieved (e.g. an increase in specific pro-fathering knowledge).
• Program managers use a fidelity checklist as a teaching aid. (They can also use it as part of an evaluation they might conduct.) They use the checklist as they observe the facilitators they supervise. Then, ideally, they coach their facilitators in between sessions (e.g. you didn’t cover “x” or you didn’t conduct this activity correctly).

While researchers can use these new checklists during evaluations, we created them primarily for use by program managers as a teaching aid. (Teams of facilitators can also use them as they observe and coach each other.) They’re simple to use, and program managers can use them to observe any session. Each checklist includes instructions at the start of it to ensure that program managers know how to use it effectively.

Program managers in organizations that use:

• 24/7 Dad® can download its checklist here. They can use it with either the A.M. or P.M. version of the program.
• The new third edition of InsideOut Dad® can download both checklists here, one for the Core Sessions and the other for the Reentry Sessions. (We included both checklists in the same file. Please note that NFI does not have a checklist for the second edition of the program.) You can also find both checklists on the USB/Flash Drive that comes with the complete program kit.
• Understanding Dad® can download its checklist here.

NFI will add the checklists for 24/7 Dad® and Understanding Dad® to future production runs of the USB/Flash Drives for both programs.

In addition to using the checklist for the NFI program(s) your organization uses, we recommend that you download the associated and recently updated fidelity guide(s). Each guide covers the essential steps to take to ensure your organization implements the program with fidelity. You can find the guide for each program in the free Resource Library on fatherhood.org. Just look for the program category, click on the icon, and scroll through until you see the guide.

I hope you find the fidelity checklist for your NFI program(s) to be a helpful tool in your service to dads!

If you’re a fatherhood program facilitator, do you receive coaching on your facilitation? If not, have you asked someone to coach you?

If you’re a fatherhood program manager, do you observe program sessions and coach facilitators based on what you observe?