JBellamy CV

Associate Professor Jennifer Bellamy’s current research is focused on the engagement of fathers in child and family services, including home visiting, parent training, child welfare and perinatal healthcare services. The aim of her work is to increase the engagement of fathers in these services in order to support positive fathering, reduce the risk of child maltreatment and improve child wellbeing among young, low-income, diverse families with young children.

Professor Bellamy has a strong commitment to conducting her research in “real world” settings, in partnership social service agencies, and with attention to sustainability and implementation. Her work has produced trainings, manuals and other resources for practitioners in the fields of evidence-based practice and fathering.

Professor Bellamy has worked within the field of fathering since 2000, when she worked as a coordinator for a statewide demonstration project designed to serve young, low-income fathers with a case management and peer-support intervention. She has experience as a nursing home therapist and a crisis counselor.

Professor Bellamy currently teaches theory and research courses at GSSW.

Family and Youth Services Bureau Article on Services for Adolescent Fathers

http://ncfy.acf.hhs.gov/news/2015/06/research-roundup-exploring-worlds-adolescent-fathers

Research Roundup: Exploring the Worlds of Adolescent Fathers | National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth

http://ncfy.acf.hhs.gov/news/2015/06/research-roundup-exploring-worlds-adolescent-fathers

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/05/11/colorado-plan-to-prevent-child-abuse/

The Society for Social Work and Research Special Interest Group (SIG) on Father Related Research was launched by Dr. Bellamy to organize, network, and support social work researchers working on studies that adress fathers and fathering. The group meets yearly at the annual Society for Social Work and Research Meeting in January and has recently launched a webinar series designed to offer scholars the opportunity to share their work and connect with fellow researchers outside of the annual conference. The first webinar, "Innovative Approaches to Fatherhood Research: challenges and Opportunities featuring Lonnie Berger, Carolyn Dayton, and Bright Sarfo was launched in September of 2018. 

The Fatherhood Research and Practice Network (FRPN) is a five-year national project funded through the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. The goals of the FRPN are to promote the rigorous evaluation of fatherhood programs for low-income fathers, expand the number of researchers and practitioners collaborating to evaluate fatherhood programs and disseminate information, including new evaluation findings, that lead to effective fatherhood practice and evalatuion research.

Professor Bellamy is a first round recipient of an award for funded projects through the FRPN. To learn more about the network, visit the website: http://www.frpn.org/

FRPN Homepage | Fatherhood Research and Practice Network

http://www.frpn.org/

Dads Matter is an adaptation to home visiting with the potential for broad reach to diverse low-income fathers. Findings from our quasi-experimental pilot study of Dads Matter suggested the adaptation resulted in better engagement of fathers in services, quality of father-child relationships, quality of mother-father relationships, and child maltreatment risk as compared to home visiting as usual. The study also evidenced low levels of attrition among mothers and fathers. Link here for a recent publication on the pilot project: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1W5HeX18Y9x0O

A multi-site randomized clinical trial designed to provide a more rigorous test of the effectiveness of Dads Matter is under way. This project funded by the McCormick Foundation, the Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation, and the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network. Bellamy is a Co-PI on this project.

Teaching Evidence-Based Practice Online

To Solve Social Challenges, Students Learn to Avoid Reinventing the Wheel - Blog

https://onlinemsw.du.edu/blog/to-solve-social-challenges-students-avoid-reinventing-the-wheel/

Dr. Bellamy is collaborating with Mathematica Policy Research to examine and evaluate strategies to engage fathers in child welfare services. More details about the project can be found here: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/research/project/engaging-fathers-and-paternal-relatives-a-continuous-quality-improvement-approach-in-the-child-welfare-system