Our Program
HELPING YOUNG FATHERS
Providing young men with the tools they need to be better fathers.
Our 12 week curriculum was developed through research by Sheldon Smith, Dovetail’s founder and Director. Supplemented with frequent guest speakers, the program educates fathers about the roles, rights and responsibilities of fatherhood as well as their importance in the lives of their children. The one-of-a-kind program also includes a strong component addressing Felony Street Law to help these young men avoid incarceration and stay present in their kids’ lives.
The Curriculum
First 3 Weeks
Helping our students understand their rights when interacting with law enforcement as well as an education on family law.
Second 4 Weeks
Increasing our students financial literacy along with providing job interview prep and other life skills assessment.
Final 4 Weeks
Teaching our students the basic parenting skills they need to raise happy, healthy children.
Different backgrounds.
Shared potential.
Our students come from a variety of circumstances — foster care, single mom or grandmother — before being single teen parents themselves. Some are in school. Some are not. Many have a parent or another family member who is incarcerated. These young men offer tremendous promise and potential, but are often in danger just going about their daily lives.
Ending the cycle
Our graduates have unanimously reported positive experiences from the trainings and have taken significant steps towards becoming a consistent presence in their children’s lives. In fact, after finishing the course many of them are actively helping us recruit participants for the subsequent classes.
Impact to date
Our organization's total number of graduates over the past fourteen years is 652. The 26th Dovetail fatherhood cohort graduated on December 19, 2023. To check the video from our graduation ceremony, click here.
In 2022, The Dovetail Project raised over $720K in funding from private and family foundations, individual donors, and corporate sponsors.
