Horace Mann - Spring 2017 - 18

HM Alumni Address "The Issues" in Their Work and Lives

Dr. Raymond Levy spoke about being a father to an audience at Massachusetts General Hospital in June 2016. (MGH photo courtesy of The Fatherhood Project)

Responding to the challenge
TFP's emphasis on providing research-based evidence to
encourage the pursuit and promotion of positive fathering, led
to a study Dr. Levy and a colleague conducted at Mass General
Hospital of 900 male spouses or partners of pregnant women
whom the men accompanied on prenatal visits. Results of TFP's
survey yielded insights on how obstetrics facilities might better
accommodate fathers' needs, with some suggestions already
being implemented. A side-benefit for fathers participating
in such a survey is the awareness they gained concerning the
significance of their active participation in their children's lives-
valuable in light of research demonstrating that fathers who
are engaged with their children during the prenatal period are
more likely to remain engaged throughout life. The TFP study led
to the organization partnering with MGH's Vincent Department
of Obstetrics and Gynecology's nursing staff to develop the
"Becoming a Dad" evidence-based program for fathers.
By 2012, a year after its founding, TFP transitioned from
solely doing research to initiating programs in schools in
underserved areas and at several Massachusetts prisons.
One school-based program addresses teen parenthood by
imparting practical skills to inexperienced teens, already or
soon-to-become fathers. Dr. Levy and his TFP team also conduct
school-based programs aimed at preventing teen fatherhood,
introducing to students in tenth-grade health classes five basic
requirements for being a good father. Students report learning
that they are not yet equipped to achieve these requirements,
and reconsider the ramifications of being a father. TFP's prisonbased training program focuses on how fathers with limited
opportunities to connect with their children can maximize the
quality of each interaction.
TFP also conducts successful programs at several community health centers, including one in Revere, Mass., often
a first stop for immigrants in the Boston area. Health center
personnel identify possible at-risk children and encourage
their fathers to bring them to the center on Saturday morn-

Horace Mann Magazine Spring 2017

ings to play games and engage in activities together. Each visit
includes time for the fathers to discuss with a TFP educator
topics ranging from the importance of attachment, positive
discipline strategies, empathy, executive function and more. The
14-week series features family outings to a children's museum
and zoo. This helps the fathers gain a sense of community while
becoming acclimated to the benefits of accessing additional
social services for themselves and their children. Easing the
fathers' inhibitions about bringing their children to health-care
visits has resulted in better overall health for the children. Other
TFP programs include Dads Matter in Pediatrics, Divorcing Dads
and Dads in Recovery. TFP is also contributing to a study at MGH
aimed at developing and evaluating focused interventions for
fathers and families toward decreasing childhood obesity.
For Dr. Raymond Levy the rewards of embarking upon a
new chapter in a long career of assisting others include the
excitement of starting each day with a new idea, insight and
hope related to his focus on fatherhood. There's also the
enjoyment of sharing this work with others, both in practice,
and in spreading the word about TFP's mission and initiatives.
Having the opportunity to do so was, admittedly for Dr. Levy, a
highlight of his experience upon his recent return to Horace
Mann School in September 2016 for Homecoming and the 50th
anniversary reunion of his HM Class of 1966. "It was a wonderful day. I was amazed at the turnout and I was filled with pride
about the spirit at the school and the diversity of the student
and parent body today.
"In terms of my reunion, when you go to one of these events
there's an understanding that people are thinking 'I wonder
who this person is now.' I was known mostly as an athlete when
I was at HM," said the former HM triathlete in soccer, basketball
and baseball, who captained two of those teams, before going
on to the University of Pennsylvania where he was captain of the
varsity baseball team. "It was gratifying to tell my old classmates
about what I'm doing now. We all seemed open to learning who
our classmates had become." $

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Horace Mann - Spring 2017