This RFP seeks qualified organizations or vendors to partner with BPHC to enhance father engagement, especially among fathers from historically marginalized communities, and, by doing so, improve outcomes for children, families, and communities. Drawing on extensive research linking active father involvement to children’s mental health and social success (Flouri & Buchanan, 2003; Sarkadi et al., 2008), this project seeks to: 1. Increase Father Involvement: Facilitate sustained, meaningful involvement of fathers in their children’s lives, recognizing that engaged fathers contribute to fewer psychological issues in daughters and reduced behavioral problems and delinquency in sons (Flouri & Buchanan, 2003; Carlson, 2006). Or provide 2. Improve Mental Health: Reduce rates of depression, anxiety, and behavioral challenges among children and adolescents by strengthening paternal engagement, consistent with global findings that high father involvement lowers the risk of depression by as much as 70% (Yang et al., 2024). 3. Advance Equity for Fathers: Address systemic barriers—including employment discrimination, housing instability, and cultural stigmas around seeking help—while acknowledging that these barriers disproportionately affect Black fathers and fathers from marginalized groups (Brightpoint, n.d.; Hoag Hospital Foundation, n.d.), ensuring these fathers have equitable opportunities to thrive as caregivers. 4. Strengthen Family and Community Well-being: Promote positive father-child relationships that lay the foundation for improved academic performance, lower teen pregnancy rates, higher educational attainment, and reduced involvement with the justice system (National Fatherhood Initiative, 2022).
