Fatherhood Initiative In Twelve Communities

The Department of Youth and Community Development announced that 12 community-based organizations have been awarded contracts under a new Fatherhood Initiative. “This is a significant new program that we are introducing” DYCD Commissioner Jeanne B. Mullgrav remarked, “father absence is very visible and well documented, both in the vast numbers and in the detrimental impact that it has on children. This program will encourage fathers to take an interest in the lives of their children, improve the relationship that fathers have with both their children and the mothers of their children, and will foster responsible fathering and ultimately benefit our children.”

Father absence is strongly associated with poverty, high rates of school failure and dropout, early sexual activity and teen pregnancy, youth suicide, juvenile delinquency and adult criminality. Fatherhood can be enhanced through programs that help fathers relate to their co-parent, foster employment and economic opportunities, and encourage personal and economic involvement with their children. Lizzette Hill Barcelona, Executive Director at STRIVE New York, expressed promise about the new program, saying “we get a lot of young fathers coming in for job training so it makes sense that we have a fatherhood program that can help them as well. The goal is to re-connect fathers to their children through various engagement activities. Fathers need to be a part of their children’s lives and upbringing, regardless of the relationship they may have with the child’s mother.”

The concept for a fatherhood initiative developed out of a series of focus groups with community-based organizations. While the results drew specific attention to fathers, certain existing funded programs at DYCD were already incorporating a family-based approach to providing services and support activities. “If a man is down on his luck and receives help in getting a job, overcoming a problem with substance abuse or obtaining a high school diploma he can then feel good enough about himself to once again face his child” said Cindy Colter, Assistant Commissioner at DYCD. We have high expectations that this will lead to financial support. It’s a real win-win situation for the father and child. The child receives both emotional and financial support increasing the chances for a better future.”

Sustaining a relationship between fathers and their children is one of the primary goals of the Fatherhood Initiative. According to Dr. Ronald B. Mincy, Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice at Columbia University, recent surveys show that a majority of children in New York City who live with their mothers do not also live with their fathers. Close to one-half of nonresident fathers in the City had not seen their children in the past twelve months and only about a third see their children regularly, or more than once a month.

Dr. Mincy, widely regarded as the father of fatherhood, stated that “children who grow up with both their parents tend to avoid critical problems that face our youth today. Even when fathers are not living with their children, if they are actively involved, their children do better in school. It may take a whole village to raise a child, but we have made this an excuse to absolve too many fathers of the primary role they should be playing in their children’s lives. Like thousands of efforts that have sprung up around the country in the last 15 years, the DYCD programs can help dads make a real difference. For this reason, let’s acknowledge these programs and give them our full support.”#

Name:- E-mail: City: State: Comments:

Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919.Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2003.