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National Fatherhood Initiative
About the National Fatherhood InitiativeOn almost every indicator of child well-being, children today fare worse than their counterparts just a generation ago. The reason: the dramatic rise, over the last thirty years, in the number of children living in fatherless households. Indeed, children growing up without fathers are more likely to fail at school or to drop out, engage in early sexual activity, develop drug and alcohol problems, and experience or perpetrate violence.The National Fatherhood Initiative was created in 1994 to counter the growing problem of fatherlessness by stimulating a broad-based social movement to restore responsible fatherhood as a national priority. With the support and involvement of such notable Americans as former U.S. Education Secretary William Bennett, actor James Earl Jones, and pollster George Gallup, we developed the following three part strategy for ensuring that more children grow up with a loving father. First, we are pursuing an aggressive public education campaign highlighting the importance of fathers to the well-being of children and communities. In addition, we have developed, in conjunction with the Ad Council, a national public service announcement (PSA) campaign to raise the awareness of every American that fathers make unique and irreplaceable contributions to the lives of their children, and that collectively we need to encourage and support men to be good and responsible fathers. One of these ads has appeared nearly a half dozen times in USA Today . In partnership with Radio America, we have also developed a series of two dozen radio PSAs featuring such prominent Americans as former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, Senator Dan Coats, General Colin Powell, Senator Bill Bradley, former Seattle Seahawk and Congressman Steve Largent, and Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. Second, we are organizing coalitions of national and local community leaders committed to creating a culture that values and supports good fathers. In October of 1994, we convened the first ever National Summit on Fatherhood in Dallas, Texas, where hundreds of our nation's civic, business, and philanthropic leaders gathered to begin building a national consensus on the need to quickly reduce father absence. We then organized and hosted an interfaith leadership summit on fatherhood in June of 1996. This summit attracted dozens of representatives from various faiths who discussed ideas for encouraging, both individually and collectively, engaged fathering. Additionally, we are partnering with national civic organizations, including United Way of America and Boys and Girls Clubs of America, to stimulate local voluntary efforts toward father-friendly community building. We are also increasingly working with the nation's governors. For example, NFI was recently awarded a contract by the Virginia Department of Health to implement a state-wide fatherhood promotion campaign as part of Governor George Allen's citizen empowerment initiative. As the coordinator of this effort, NFI developed a series of state-specific PSAs, hosted local fatherhood forums throughout the state, and developed a resource center to assist grassroots organizations and individuals implement local fatherhood promotion efforts. In addition to our work in Virginia, NFI has been asked to provide consultation and advice to such diverse governors as William Weld of Massachusetts, Roy Romer of Colorado, Pete Wilson of California, and Evan Bayh of Indiana, as each seeks to find ways to promote, rather than discourage, responsible fatherhood through state policy initiatives. To help support our state policy work, NFI recently co-authored a document entitled "Seven Things States Can Do To Promote Responsible Fatherhood." Published by the Council of Governors' Policy Advisors, the policy arm of the National Governors' Association, this report has been widely disseminated to state and local government officials. Third, we are taking our pro-fatherhood message directly to individual men. Through the skill building and community resource materials, we provide information on how men can become better fathers, and local communities can promote, encourage and support fathers. One of our most successful publications, Father Facts , contains national data on trends in fatherhood, as well as research documenting the negative consequences of father absence. We also publish a Fatherhood Resource Catalog containing books, tapes, and other fatherhood products. There is substantial evidence that our efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Whether reflected in stadiums filled with Promise Keepers, the streets of our nation's capital inundated with Million Man Marchers, or news stories highlighting the connection between absent fathers and such diverse social ills as crime, educational failure and welfare dependency, fatherhood is in the air. Virtually everyone -- from Dan Quayle to Bill Clinton -- now agrees: fathers matter, and they matter a lot more than many had previously realized. The job, however, is only half done. Though few still argue seriously that fathers are superfluous, the number of children growing up in father absent households continues to rise. This year, more than a million children will experience the divorce or separation of their parents. An additional 1.3 million babies will be fathered out-of-wedlock. Overall, nearly 2.5 million children will join the ranks of the fatherless. Certainly much has been accomplished. But we must not delude ourselves into believing that the struggle to renew fatherhood has been won. Far too many children continue to grow up in homes without fathers. The most important battles are still before us. Achieving attitudinal change may be hard; but behavioral change is even harder. And that is what our children need most of all.
Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., is now the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Service. He is the former Director of the National Fatherhood Initiative and the United States Commissioner for Children, Youth and Families. For further information on the National Fatherhood Initiative or to obtain copies of any of the aforementioned materials, feel free to contact the NFI (address above) Copyright 1996 National Fatherhood Initiative
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Date Posted: 8/25/97;
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