Where's Dad? The Importance of Integrating Fatherhood and Parenting Programming into Substance Use Treatment for Men.

Large numbers of men enter substance use disorder treatment each year, yet very little attention is paid to the fatherhood and parenting status of these men. Substance use treatment programs rarely incorporate a parenting component into their treatment planning, despite increased success of women's treatment programs that focus on gender and motherhood. This paper provides: 1) a review of the literature on the fathering of substance using men, what has been learned from substance use disorder treatment for mothers, and the implications for children and families; 2) pilot quantitative and qualitative outcomes on implementation of a fatherhood focused intervention for men in a residential substance use treatment program; and 3) recommendations for the application of these findings for fathers in substance use disorder treatment and the implications of program modifications and increased focus on fathers for child welfare.