National Center for Fathering (NCF)

Watch d.o.g.s. Is the father involvement in education initiative of the National Center for Fathering. The initiative provides resources and consultation that enable schools to establish a school-based watch d.o.g.s. Program that encourages fathers and father figures to volunteer at their children's school to provide both a security presence and a positive male role model. At the end of the fiscal year, there were 5,400 registered watch d.o.g.s. Programs in 47 states that involved an estimated 459,000 watch d.o.g.s. Volunteers providing 3.2 million hours of service in their children's schools.

Fatherhood promotion activities include public speaking in various venues to promote responsible fatherhood and media interviews. During the fiscal year, ncf staff presented at multiple venues for audiences totaling in excess of 5,000. The Center also provided free practical Fathering information through its website, www.fathers.com, and social media.

Father training conducted by the National Center for Fathering includes live training events and workshops presented to the public by the Center. These include the quenching the father thirst train-the-trainer workshop, 7 steps to a successful watch d.o.g.s. Program workshop and other curriculum developed by the Center for use in a variety of settings. During the fiscal year, the Center presented public and teleconferenced training events with total attendance of 2,416. Train-the-trainer workshops were conducted by others equipping 60 individuals to deliver training in their communities and 893 small group study guides were distributed or sold for use in community and faith-based Fathering classes.