Fatherhood: The Conversations Men Avoid But Need to Have — 12-Session Fatherhood Curriculum License

What This Is

Fatherhood: The Conversations Men Avoid But Need to Have is a 185-page, 12-session fatherhood curriculum that agencies license and run under their own program. It combines the participant workbook and the facilitator guide in one book, uses a repeatable 7-part session format, and includes a built-in pre/post self-assessment that produces outcome data for your reporting. It is written for organizations serving fathers in probation, reentry, child support, workforce development, and responsible fatherhood programs.

Most fatherhood curricula teach a man how to read to his child. This one deals with why he stopped showing up in the first place — the anger, the money pressure, the shame, the depression he calls "being tired," the things he numbs instead of names. Then it puts a solution on the table. Every session names something real and ends with a tool he can use that same night. That is the whole design.

At a Glance

• Length: 185 pages
• Structure: 12 core sessions + 1 bonus session ("The Respect Factor")
• Session runtime: 90 minutes each
• Program length: 12 weeks (compresses to 6 weeks with double sessions, or extends to 24)
• Format: Combined participant workbook + facilitator guide in one volume
• Outcome tool: 10-item, 50-point self-assessment administered Week 1 and Week 12
• Facilitator requirement: No clinical license required
• Author: Dr. Derek Collins, CEO of Diversion Center
• Delivery: Licensed to your agency — print, brand, and deliver under your program name

Who Licenses This Curriculum

• Responsible fatherhood grantees and federally funded father engagement programs
• Probation, parole, and community supervision departments running court-mandated parenting or fatherhood classes
• Reentry organizations and transitional programs serving justice-involved men
• Child support agencies running non-custodial parent engagement tracks
• Workforce development boards and job readiness programs adding a fatherhood component
• Faith-based and community organizations building a men's program from scratch
• Behavioral health and treatment providers who need a fatherhood track that is not clinical therapy

The 12-Session Map

The Session Engine: Why New Facilitators Can Run It Week One

Every session runs the same seven steps. Once a facilitator learns the rhythm, he can run any chapter in the book. That is what makes this curriculum survive staff turnover.

1. The Real — a straight-talk opening that names the thing and gets the room honest
2. Let's Get Into It — the teaching, in plain language anybody can follow
3. The Inventory — a self-rating checklist that moves it from "men" to "me"
4. Real Scenarios — short stories about regular men, so the room talks about him before it talks about themselves
5. Real Solutions — the tools. No problem gets named without a solution next to it
6. Put It On Yourself — written reflection lines where the private work happens
7. Before Next Week — one small, doable action step he reports back on

Built-In Outcome Data for Your Reporting

Funders ask for numbers. This curriculum produces them without a separate evaluation contract. Participants complete a 10-item, 50-point self-assessment in Week 1 and the identical assessment in Week 12. The change in score gives your program pre/post movement across ten domains — anger management, discipline, help-seeking, self-worth, financial behavior, presence, health, gratitude, forgiveness, and identity. Your facilitator collects both totals. Your report writes itself. The participant also sees his own growth in his own handwriting, which is where the retention comes from.

What the Facilitator Guide Handles

The front of the book is a full facilitator guide, written for staff who are strong with men but new to running a room:

• How to Run the Room — setting the tone, protecting confidentiality, handling the quiet man and the man who tries to take over
• Stay in Your Lane — an explicit scope-of-practice page separating what a facilitator does from what a clinician does, with clear referral triggers
• Crisis Protocol — a step-by-step response for suicidal statements, disclosure of abuse, and intoxication, with national hotline numbers (988, National Domestic Violence Hotline, SAMHSA) and space for your local referrals
• Ground Rules — the five rules read aloud in session one
• In-Session Prompts — "Run This In The Room" facilitator notes embedded directly beside the exercises, so nobody has to flip between two books

Approach and Foundation

The curriculum applies evidence-based interventions grounded in cognitive behavioral and solution-focused approaches: identifying the thought behind the reaction, interrupting the cycle, choosing the replacement behavior, and committing to a small next step. It also references established, widely recognized frameworks — the stages of change, the emotional hijack, and the stages of grief — and cites peer-reviewed research on father involvement, including Sarkadi et al. (2008) and McLanahan, Tach, and Schneider (2013), alongside U.S. Census Bureau data on father absence. The frameworks, exercises, and voice are original material developed by Dr. Derek Collins across years of facilitating groups with men.

Why Agencies License 

Buying books per participant means you pay again every cohort and the material stays somebody else's. A license makes the curriculum yours to run.

• Grant-ready — a defined curriculum with a stated dosage, session structure, and pre/post measure is what a funder wants to see in a program narrative
• Predictable budgeting — one line item instead of a per-head cost that grows with your caseload
• Facilitator certification available — train your staff to deliver it with fidelity and credential them through NACATP

Licensing Options

Licensing is structured by scope of use: Single Site for one location or program, Multi-Site for agencies running several locations, and Systemwide for departments, districts, or statewide deployment. Terms cover reproduction rights, branding, term length, and facilitator training. Request a licensing quote and we will scope it to your cohort volume and funding cycle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my staff need a clinical license to facilitate this curriculum?

No. The curriculum is designed for trained facilitators, not therapists, and includes an explicit scope-of-practice section defining what belongs in a facilitator's lane and when to refer out. Facilitator certification is available through Diversion Center for agencies that want documented training and fidelity.

Is this appropriate for court-mandated and probation-referred participants?

Yes. It is built for mandated rooms — men who did not choose to be there. The opening session addresses resistance directly, the scenarios are written for justice-involved and reentering men, and the session structure supports attendance documentation and completion reporting.

How long does the program take to deliver?

Twelve 90-minute sessions, typically delivered weekly over 12 weeks. Agencies also run it as a 6-week intensive with two sessions per meeting, or stretch it to 24 weeks by splitting sessions.

What outcome data does the curriculum generate?

A 10-item, 50-point self-assessment is completed in Week 1 and again in Week 12. The pre/post score change gives you participant-level and cohort-level growth data across ten fatherhood and self-management domains for funder and grant reporting.

Does the license cover unlimited participants?

Reproduction rights are defined in the license by site scope rather than per-participant fees, so you print what your cohorts need within your licensed locations. Exact terms are set in the agreement.

Do we need a separate facilitator guide?

No. The participant workbook and facilitator guide are combined in one 185-page volume, with facilitator prompts embedded beside the exercises. Your staff runs the session from the same book the men are writing in.

Is this curriculum only for Black fathers or a specific population?

No. The voice is direct and conversational and lands in any room of men. Agencies use it across rural, urban, and suburban programs, and across age ranges from young fathers to grandfathers raising grandchildren.

Can we combine this with other Diversion Center curricula?

Yes. Agencies commonly license it alongside the anger management curriculum, the financial literacy curriculum for fathers, and Beyond the Trigger, the gun violence intervention curriculum, to build a full program track under one agreement.

Request Your Licensing Quote

Tell us your cohort volume, number of sites, and funding cycle, and we will send scoped licensing terms and a sample session. If your program is running mandated or court-referred participants and you also need provider credentialing, ask about certification through NACATP.