10: Engaging Black Fathers in Behavioral Health Services
“...not all Black men are absent fathers. Even though there are statistics that show that there are some men who, for many reasons, may not be involved but there's a certain amount of many other men who are. And why aren't we hearing their story?”
Black fathers are often stigmatized within the U.S. for a myriad of reasons including negative stereotypes and inaccurate media portrayal. And for these reasons, they are often not engaged in child and family behavioral health settings. However, there is a host of data that describes the importance of black fathers in the lives of their children and families. In fact, there are currently more fathers living with their children than without and data suggests that black fathers are more involved in the daily lives of their children in comparison to their white and latino counterparts. This episode underscores the importance of engaging black fathers in behavioral health services.
Tyrone M. Parchment is a Ph.D. Candidate at the New York University Silver School of Social Work with almost ten years of direct practice and research experience. Mr. Parchment received his Masters of Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. His professional background encompasses administration, field instruction, mental health, program planning and development, research and teaching. As a Research Scientist at the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, Mr. Parchment is coordinating various research studies both locally and globally centered on the family caregiving and behavioral health of children and adolescents. He also serves as Clinical Research Coordinator and Field Instructor for Project Step-Up, a multi-component school-based mental health support program for high school youth experiencing academic and behavioral difficulties. His dissertation aims to conduct formative research and develop a greater understanding of how South African caregivers are associated with potentially decreasing children’s risky behavior and improving their mental health. Mr. Parchment is utilizing Structural Equation Modeling to examine secondary data from an existing NIMH funded randomized control trial (RCT) family-based HIV prevention intervention to reduce sexual risk behaviors among uninfected children within township communities in South Africa.
