North East Outreach and Support Services (NEOSS) is launching a new program in northeast Saskatchewan aimed at helping fathers take responsibility for harmful behaviour and learn healthier ways to parent.
The program, called Caring Dads, will begin on Jan. 27 and will run in Melfort and Nipawin, with the ability to expand to other communities within the NEOSS region if there is demand.
Caring Dads is designed specifically for men who have been physically or emotionally abusive toward their partners or children or who have exposed their children to domestic violence. The goal is to address those behaviours before they escalate further and to support safer family relationships.
“Caring Dads program is a program for dads who have been abusive in the past to mothers as well as to children, and it’s just working with them on child-centered fathering and building relationships to be able to have healthy behaviours when parenting our children,” said Tracey Zwozdesky, Outreach Manager with NEOSS.
Zwozdesky said many of the men who enter the program are referred through probation or social services, often following assault charges or domestic violence investigations.
“Any history of physical or emotional violence towards children or their spouse. So often, the referral sources come from places like probation,” she said. “They might have a no-contact order with the mother of the children or anything, as well as social services is often a referral source.”
A meeting room inside the North East Outreach and Support Services office in Melfort, where the Caring Dads program will be delivered.
The program is for 17 weeks and is delivered in a group setting. Participants are expected to attend weekly sessions and complete homework assignments, with progress monitored through ongoing communication with referral agencies.
“So within the program, their accountability is that they do have to attend every week for the 17 weeks, and that they have to be engaged,” Zwozdesky said. “When the referrals come through probations or social services, we do check-ins with the person that referred.”
Inside the program, fathers take part in a range of activities focused on understanding their own behaviour and how it affects their children. These include building family genograms, learning about child developmental milestones, practicing coping skills, and exploring the connection between thoughts, feelings, and actions.
“It helps them find the choices to do things differently,” Zwozdesky said. “We talk about what it means to be a parent, how we can build those healthier relationships, how we can recognize the unhealthy relationships, the hurtful and abusive things that we’re doing.”
While Caring Dads is not an addictions-based program, NEOSS will connect participants with other services if substance use is identified as a concern.
“We would connect them to support, if that was something that they needed, was for addiction services,” Zwozdesky said.
The program also maintains contact with mothers, although they do not participate directly in the sessions. Staff reach out to ensure safety and provide additional support if needed.
“We connect with the moms as well,” Zwozdesky said. “They don’t come to the programming, but we do connect with them.”
Zwozdesky said success from a child’s perspective means growing up in a home where conflict and fear are no longer the norm.
“They aren’t seeing their parents fighting in front of them anymore, or maybe they feel more comfortable speaking with dad about anything that’s going on for them without fear,” she said.
NOESS Executive Director Joan Bear said the program comes at a critical time, as communities across the region continue to experience high levels of domestic violence.
“This type of programming is long overdue and provides practical tools for men in the Northeast Region of Saskatchewan,” Bear said in a statement. “There is opportunity to develop skills to cope in healthy ways with frustrating situations.”
Bear said the program is free for participants and aligns with NEOSS’ broader mission of supporting safety, healing, and prevention.
“Caring Dads provides real value to help fathers improve their relationship with their children and end controlling, abusive, and neglectful behaviour,” she said.
Referrals to the Caring Dads program can be made by contacting NEOSS Outreach Manager Tracey Zwozdesky at 306-812-7292 or by email at tzwozdesky@neoss.ca
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
