Social service providers in a variety of sectors have struggled to consistently engage nonresident fathers in service provision. A growing body of research indicates that practitioner characteristics and attitudes may help increase retention and engagement among this group of men. These findings coincide with recent mandates from federal policy makers to increase engagement of nonresident fathers in family-centered practice approaches. A central tenet of interest within this framework is the family–professional relationship. Using a collaborative competencies model, the current study seeks to advance this line of research by investigating practitioners’ perceptions of their preparedness to engage nonresident fathers. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were completed with 20 social service practitioners who have experience working with nonresident fathers. A directed content analysis revealed key aspects of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and professional collaborative competencies that practitioners believe are important to facilitate meaningful father engagement. Implications for practice and future research regarding effective social work practice with nonresident fathers are discussed.

各个部门的社会服务提供者一直在努力让非居民父亲参与服务提供。越来越多的研究表明，从业者的特征和态度可能有助于提高这组男性的保留率和参与度。这些发现与联邦政策制定者最近要求增加非居民父亲在以家庭为中心的实践方法中的参与度相吻合。该框架内的一个核心原则是家庭-职业关系。使用协作能力模型，当前的研究旨在通过调查从业者对他们准备与非居民父亲接触的看法来推进这一研究方向。对 20 名具有与非居民父亲一起工作经验的社会服务从业者完成了半结构化的定性访谈。定向内容分析揭示了内省、人际关系和专业协作能力的关键方面，从业者认为这些方面对于促进有意义的父亲参与很重要。讨论了对非居民父亲有效社会工作实践的实践和未来研究的影响。