Four years ago, Juan Buitron got drunk in the presence of his then 3-year-old son. When the drinking led to a child endangerment incident, he said, child protective services got involved.
Eventually, the Denton resident was required to enroll in FOCUS+ for Fathers. The purpose of the 10-week fatherhood program is to help dads become a more positive influence in their children’s lives.
At first, Buitron was not engaged as thoughts filled his head over the point of the program: “What am I doing here? I don’t need this. I don’t need to be here. I don’t need no more lectures.”
His perspective shifted over the span of those 10 weeks. He bought in, wanting to be a better dad.
“I grew up without a father, so I have to try to better myself and be there for my kids,” Buitron said. “If you want your kids to be better than you, well, I got to better myself. I got to show the example.”
FOCUS+ was created by NewDay Services for Children & Families in 2002. It originally centered on Tarrant County fathers delinquent in paying child support before expanding to fathers in the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. In 2004, the nonprofit reported serving around 100 fathers.
As of 2024, the program was accessible in 64 counties across Texas. And with a similar program dedicated to mothers launched in 2013, the FOCUS+ programs now serve 1,900 parents a year.
“We have a high success rate. We see the change, CPS sees the change, the judge sees the change, and that’s why our parents have a better chance of getting their kids home,” said Bob Robinson, president and CEO of the nonprofit.
Birthed out of need
Rev. Randy Thomas, a volunteer chaplain at Tarrant County family court, started NewDay Services as a divorce counseling center in May 1997, according to Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives.
The desire back then was to help the parent so that the child’s life was not negatively affected by trauma.
“(Parents) have to understand the need to communicate with each other and let the children know both of them still love them (and that) it’s not their fault they’re getting a divorce,” Family Court Judge Brian Carper said in 1997.
Robinson started working for NewDay 16 years ago. By then, the nonprofit had shifted focus. It started chaplaincy services at the Family Law Center and the Juvenile Justice Center in the early 2000s, and initiated the fatherhood courses in 2002.
The goal with those services? Court officials noted that jailing parents for being behind in child support would rarely fix the problem, Robinson said.
It didn’t take long for NewDay to enter the child welfare space. In 2008, the state agency, CPS, asked NewDay to be a part of a national project called the National Quality Improvement Center for Non-Residential Fathers and the Child Welfare System.
As one of the four pilot testing sites, Tarrant County was part of a national question: Are fathers getting a fair shake in the child welfare system?
“The report came back to Health and Human Services: ‘Hey, we’ve got to do a better job with the dads,’” Robinson said.
A solution was needed for fathers to be reeducated on parenting. Over a three-year, $100,000 grant, NewDay and a coalition of organizations tried to outline the path forward.
In 2011, through a contract with CPS, NewDay started serving Tarrant County.
In a couple of years, the nonprofit had already expanded FOCUS+ for Fathers to the 18 other counties in the child welfare regional system, Robinson said.
Circle of control
Buitron pointed to one aspect of the program course that still stuck with him: the circle of control.
“That really put it into perspective because I used to try to control everything around me without even looking at my actions or thinking about my actions,” he said.
Circle of control is the idea that you only have power over your actions and your attitude, and that you should be accountable to yourself and not get upset over aspects of life you can’t control.
That concept is part of the solution Robinson and other previous leaders at NewDay created in 2011. They knew that the system they used for fathers delinquent in child support couldn’t be copied for fathers looking to keep custody of their kids.
Over the years, the program went through frequent updates. For many of the 64 counties, the course is offered online and is available in Spanish.
But the core hasn’t shifted. Alongside teaching about the circle of control, FOCUS+ looks at topics such as co-parenting, connecting with children at different stages of development, learning a healthy fatherhood model, managing frustration and conflict, applying age-appropriate discipline, and the concept of leaving a new family legacy.
Who participates in FOCUS+ for Fathers?
The percentage rates are based on 798 fathers who completed surveys from January 2023 to June 2024. CPS requires participants to list their reason for enrolling:
- Conservatorship – 49%
- Family-based safety services – 40%
- Investigations – 2%
- Other, such as court orders, voluntary participation, or lawyer recommendation – 9%
At the meetings, fathers engage with each other over the months in team activities and pairings.
The course also highlights four characteristics needed to be a better role model as a dad: being a servant, leader, warrior and companion.
“This is what dads do. You’re not just a paycheck,” Robinson said. “And that’s a light bulb moment for a lot of guys.”
What makes the course stand out among others is centering the parents themselves. That fosters trust, said Diane Davis, vice president of programs at NewDay.
“They don’t realize they’re raising a future adult. And once you realize that, you’re going to pour into them what you want,” Davis said. “That’s what we want to do: to develop that parenting skill. We want to strengthen their communication, their problem-solving.”
The course also stands out among parental guides for its results. According to a 2015 study by DFPS comparing FOCUS+ graduates to those who didn’t participate, fathers were three times less likely to have their parental rights terminated, 24% more likely to participate in reunification and 3.5 times more likely to be selected as final placement for their child.
Outside organizations have also tracked the class’s effect. James Bell Associates, a research firm which specializes in the child welfare and healthcare spaces, found fathers who graduated from the FOCUS+ program were more able to navigate the CPS system and more willing to cooperate with caseworkers.
“They change their perspectives on ‘What does it mean to be a role model in my family as a father? How do I discipline appropriately? How do I co-parent?’” said Emily Heberlein, a senior research associate at James Bell who was part of a team that analyzed survey responses from 639 FOCUS+ graduates from January 2023 to June 2024.
“We had really high proportions of fathers who noted improvement in their understanding of those parenting skills and tools from beginning to the end of the class,” she said.
The study’s client was Annie E. Casey Foundation, a philanthropic group based in Baltimore that Robinson said was impressed with FOCUS+ and wanted to outline the efficacy of the course.
Because of James Bell’s analysis, FOCUS+ is now an evidence-informed course.
A new path
When Davis arrived at NewDay, the FOCUS+ course was not really adjusted to mothers.
She decided to update the course. The core stayed the same — “letting them know their value and their worth” — but new parts of being a mother were added, such as being aware of what abuse aside from physical abuse may look like.
Davis, who leads FOCUS+ for Mothers, made increasing participation from mothers an internal goal. In 2024, NewDay provided the parenting class to 1,109 mothers and 805 fathers.
“(We’re) helping them to identify their character, to have a vision not only for themselves, but creating a new path, a new legacy for their children,” Davis said.
That legacy is central to Buitron. He still has a letter he wrote to his children during the last class of FOCUS+, ensuring his two sons will know the intensity of his love for them.
The purpose of the letter, he said, is to serve as a last word to loved ones.
Buitron believes in the mission of NewDay to the point he volunteers for the organization every Monday at its Denton location after his work as a farmhand. He sees himself in the reactions of those parents — the frustration during the first class, the desire not to be there.
The reason he followed through with the course is simple — he loves his children.
“I tell the guys (I see at NewDay), ‘Hey, it’s never too late to say I love you. Tell them now instead of not telling them at all.’”
For Buitron, outlining the love for one’s child is part of what FOCUS+ teaches. It’s not a “bad dad class.” No father is given a rubric on how to move forward. The course helps fathers see that.
“It ain’t too late to change, you know. It wasn’t too late for me.”
Ismael M. Belkoura is the nonprofit editor for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from North Texas Community Foundation. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
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