The communities, families, and children of Kentucky today have as much potential and promise as ever, yet it seems this potential is all too often thwarted or unrealized. Relatedly, family service providers face a host of challenges that seem to lie beyond the reach of the approaches, methods, and structures we have enlisted to date. Fortunately, the Commonwealth has a myriad of governmental and community agencies squarely focused on and open to emerging approaches that provide comprehensive and effective services to its citizens and families. This session will explicitly highlight research-informed information that affirms responsible and engaged fatherhood as an essential element for the enhancement of child and family wellbeing and positive life outcomes. Participants will examine how engaging fathers can assist in the addressing and reducing of issues plaguing Kentucky such as child maltreatment, substance misuse disorder, human trafficking, poverty, and many others. This necessary shift toward father inclusive approaches will be expressed, particularly through existing efforts in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to address and increase the protective factors associated with positive fatherhood engagement. Learning Objectives · Increase knowledge of the importance of responsible fatherhood and its impact on life outcomes · Establish responsible fatherhood as an “upstream” approach and offer practical approaches to increase father-centric practices and spaces · Encourage principles and practices of collective impact and collaborative efforts particularly between/across governmental and community agencies. · Demonstrate statewide fatherhood engagement efforts that holds high regard to lived experience leadership · Resolve myths, misrepresentations, and biases associated with marginalized father groups