About Us

The RuralFathers.com project was made possible through funding from the United States Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Region VIII Head Start Office.

RuralFathers.com is a project of Youth & Family Services, Early Head Start Father/Male Involvement Project. The project has reached and positively impacted fathers and children in Western South Dakota since 2001.

In 2001, Youth & Family Services Early Head Start, in addition to 20 national Early Head Start programs, was awarded a three-year Fatherhood Demonstration Grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The funding for the grant began Feb. 1, 2001, and ended Jan. 31, 2004.

Within this time, the EHS Father/Male Involvement Project made great strides in:

• Developing resources and materials
• Providing educational opportunities for fathers and children
• Training staff, mothers, and fathers on fatherhood development
• Working with fathers on program design
• Developing age-appropriate material for children
• Promoting father participation in all aspects of child development
• Changing the overall philosophy within the YFS EHS program to be more inclusive to fathers
• Compiling research on fathers and children
• Evaluating the impact of the project on fathers practices & beliefs

Highlights from the project evaluation:

• More males agreed they were a good father
• More males believed they provided emotional support for their child
• More males believed they were a good financial provider
• Fewer males believed that the mother was mainly responsible for the care of the infant or toddler
• More males believed that the father’s interaction contributed to the child’s development
• Males agreed more frequently that a child begins to learn from birth
• More males strongly believed that the strength of the relationship between the father and mother was important to a child’s development
• More males strongly agreed that a father’s interaction with a male or female child is just as important as the mother’s interaction

About Youth & Family Services

Youth & Family Services (YFS), a private, nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) human services organization, began operation in 1965 as the Girls Club of Rapid City. In 1991, the agency changed its name to Youth & Family Services to reflect the comprehensive services that had been added to the agency, including Head Start, the Counseling Center, the Western Prevention Resource Center, Child Care, and Nutrition Services. YFS provides developmentally appropriate, culturally competent, research-based programming for over 10,000 children and their families each year in its centers in Rapid City and outreach in 24 counties in western South Dakota.

Mission Statement

To strengthen rural families by helping fathers establish and continue positive relationships with their children.

Contact Us

RuralFathers.com
Youth & Family Services
1920 Plaza Blvd. PO Box 2813
Rapid City, South Dakota 57709-2813
staff@ruralfathers.com
1-800-937-9832
(605) 342-4195
(605) 342-0693 (fax)

RuralFathers.com

Early Head Start
Youth & Family Services
PO Box 2813
Rapid City, SD 57709
1-800-937-9832