| 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.”#
Education
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