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We Have Failed Our Children

 Now What Is Needed For Their Futures - Prevention, Intervention and Emerging Models

Presented By Fathers & Families Coalition of America 

The distinctive of Fathers & Families Coalition of America is the introduction of very important grounded principles. However, do we hold to principles, evidence based interventions, best practices or so dogmatic to serve people without a greater understanding that the models that were very impactful in 1980 may not transform the lives of others in 2016. We brought some of the finest experts to test each of us to improve services to children and families. The test to pass is how to take this information and expand your model that you are using today. Is the model holistic for today's family? Listen to these leaders and the revelations to increase your capacity. Holding to principles, models or restrictions from grants do they impact the people you serve? 

 National Families & Fathers 17th Annual Conference Featured Speakers                                                                                                                                                               Honorable Carlis V. Williams, Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families, Region IV Atlanta, GA                                                                                     Dr. Ginny Ehrlich, CEO, National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Washington, DC                                                                                                               Honorable Alisha Griffin, Director for the State of California Department of Child Support Services Sacramento, CA                                                                                                     Ms. Diann Dawson, JD., MSW, Senior Consultant Global Peace Foundation USA, Lanham, MD

Fathers & Families Coalition of America is honored to share our gallery from the Dr. Ramon & Dr, Yolanda Nieves Family Affair Red Tie Red Dress Annual Gala at our National Families and Fathers 17th Annual Conference, February 18, 2016 in Los Angeles. The Honorable Danny K. Davis, U.S. Congressman of the State of Illinois 7th District bestowed Congressional Certificates of Special Recognition to outstanding fathers with Major General John R. Hawkins III (far left) and James Rodriguez, CEO & President of Fathers & Families Coalition of America (2nd far left) presenting awards recognition from Congressman Davis. Moreover, the U.S. Office of Head Start provided special certificates as well to these outstanding fathers, veterans of the Army, Marines and Navy with even a special guest as a single father, Mr. James Cannon raised his son Nick Cannon alone going through struggles as all of these fathers experienced, however, greater rewards as dads! We honored Couples of Excellence with marriages from 28 to 59 years as the Mistress of Ceremonies, Commissioner Josefa Salinas ushered in of inspiration…..

Join us next year!  Capture a glance of this year’s photo gallery here

Fathers & Families Coalition of America is committed to the elimination of poverty world-wide. We share a fantastic new partnership led by The Urban Instite to make a difference in the lives of all Americans, not just those in poverty

A partnership  made up of a group of 24 leading experts, advocates and academics from across the country. Harvard Professor David Ellwood, former Dean of the Kennedy School of Government and noted poverty expert, is Chair. Over the next two years, these remarkable minds will work to determine what it would take to increase dramatically upward mobility for those in poverty. They will situate the challenge in the broader global economy and US context; they will explore structural barriers to opportunity. And they will uncover the country’s most successful programs; collaborate with outside innovative organizations to test promising new models; and identify new approaches.

READ MORE HERE

Fathers and Families Coalition of America has advocated for increased program models to address the role of practitioners serving fathers to mitigate child abuse and neglect. During our National Families & Fathers 17th Annual Confernce we will host a series of workshops, plenary discussions and meetings with industry experts on trauma informed care practices and strategies to support professionals working with children and adults overcome adverse childhood experiences. Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS provided a 2014 Factsheet for Families that is relevant to raise awareness on why must develop strong practices and reduce the intergenerational impacts of trauma, "when parents do not have an understanding of the effects of trauma, they may misinterpret their child’s behavior and end up feeling frustrated or resentful. Their attempts to address troubling behavior may be ineffective or, in some cases, even harmful." Read More

A few of the sessions available to increase your understandings, skills and practices working with in-risk children, fathers and families through emerging models and evidence based practices. Join us at our National Families and Fathers 17th Annual Conference to help make a difference in the lives of children. Read More

Grow the Brain: A Trauma Care Program for Paraprofessionals by Dr. Carolyn Curtis

Picking Up the Broken Pieces by Carter Patterson and Marc Warren

Guided Principles for an Informed Trauma Practice by Dr. Dezette Johnson

Annual Red Tie/Red Dress Family Affair Gala

2-18-2016

Los Angeles, California 

Join us for the our National Gala & Awards at the Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel February 18th starting at 6:30p.m. for this Red Tie/Red Dress National Awards Gala as we honor others and a night of inspiration!

U.S. Congressman, Danny K. Davis, Seventh District for the State of Illinois and a national a champion for healthy families will support the honoring of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, Wounded Warriors, fathers honorees from 15 states with remarks for all. Moreover, from the U.S. House of Representatives , Office of U.S. Congressman Danny K. Davis of the 7th Dsitrict for the State of Ilinois Corporation for National and Community Service administered by Points of Light and The U.S. Office of Head Start as well as from the and Fathers & Families Coalition of America we will have additional recognitions for our Ambassador Agencies; Fathers of the Year; Couples of Excellence; and a very special National Leader of the Year honoree!

When a Dad Makes a Difference

Father & Son Finding A Cause Bigger Than Self

Fathers & Families Coalition of America would like to introduce a story of a young man who has found his purpose...

Pauly Avila has found his core as an effective young man affecting the lives of homeless in Los Angeles' infamous, Skid Row. He is healing others and challenging them to transfor their lives. Because who he is and by his father's guidance unveiling his purpose to help others through music.

We no longer should use the term "at-risk" when we have a growing generation of children, youth and young adults living "in-risk." The Achievement Gap and the Discipline Gap Two Sides of the Same Coin? by Anne Gregory,  Russell J. Skiba and Pedro A. Noguera Outline how the the gap of Black, Latino, and American Indian student success requires more attention. This article synthesizes research on racial and ethnic patterns in school sanctions and considers how disproportionate discipline might contribute to lagging achievement among students of color. It further examines the evidence for student, school, and community contributors to the racial and ethnic patterns in school sanctions, and it offers promising directions for gap-reducing discipline policies and practices. 

 WE CAN DO BETTER

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As the American family changes, fatherhood is changing in important and sometimes surprising ways.  Today, fathers who live with their children are taking a more active role in caring for them and helping out around the house. And the ranks of stay-at-home fathersand single fathers have grown significantly in recent decades. At the same time, more and more children are growing up without a father in the home.

The changing role of fathers has introduced new challenges, as dads juggle the competing demands of family and work. Here are some key findings about fathers from Pew Research Center reports.

1. Fewer dads are their family’s sole breadwinner.

2. Dads’ and moms’ roles are converging.

3. Work-family balance is a challenge for many working fathers.

David Murphey and P. Mae Cooper provide a report on the impacts of not only parents but our children and our communities (October, 2015). Since 1996, we have either provided direct services to the incarcerated parents, mentoring programs for the reentry, advocated to improve practices of services providers, established relationships to include FFCA Affiliates whose primary focus is service to those inside/outside prison walls. We have wrestled with how to do balance effective criminal justice system and stop the strategic fragmentation of families and destiny of millions of children through failed social policy and practices.   Parents Behind Bars What Happens to Their Children? released by Child Trends, Inc. provides new insights and existing realities to help others reduce the hovering of generational impacts of poverty and incarceration for millions of in-risk individuals in America. Five million U.S. children have had a parent incarcerated. Today, Child Trends released a report, Parents Behind Bars: What Happens to Their Children?, which reveals who these children are and what challenges they face. The report is the result of a study using data from the 2011-12 National Survey of Children’s Health. Read more here  

Increased attention is being given to the practice of engaging fathers in early childhood home visiting programs. What strategies do home visiting programs use to engage fathers, what challenges do they face, and what are the potential benefits of participating? What strategies do home visiting programs use to engage fathers, what challenges do they face, and what are the potential benefits of participating?

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By Anna Solmeyer, Social Science Research Analyst, Office of Planning Research and Evaluation, and Amanda Clincy, Social Science Research Analyst, Business Strategies Consultants

Categories:

Serving Young Fathers in Home Visiting Programs

What are the experiences of early childhood home visiting programs attempting to engage young fathers? Learn about young fathers' motivations for participating, the unique challenges that young fathers present, and the strategies that staff use to serve this population. 

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Maeve E. Gearing
December 21, 2015

“I have a couple where the father is 15 years old and comes on a skateboard to the home visit.”

About 9 percent (900,000) of American men become fathers before their twentieth birthday. Many of these young fathers grew up in disadvantaged homes, often without fathers in their own lives. And the challenges to becoming a dad at such a young age are many.

Teen fathers have less education and lower earnings than men who delay childbearing. Some young dads, particularly low-income dads, respond to these challenges by withdrawing from their new families. But fathers are crucial to the wellbeing of their children. Research has shown that children with engaged fathers have better cognitive development, exhibit fewer behavioral problems, and do better in school. In other words, having an involved dad helps put children on the right track. How can we get and keep teen dads engaged?

 Loyalty Night Opening Presidential Reception

Tuesday, February 16, 2016 

5:00p.m. to 7:30p.m.

2016 Rise up Families! National Families & Fathers 17th Annual Conference 

SHERATON GATEWAY HOTEL LOS ANGELES

6101 W CENTURY BLVD,

LOS ANGELES, CA 90045

Parenting in America

Outlook, worries, aspirations are strongly linked to financial situation

The link between family structure and financial circumstances

Marriage and family structure influence the economic and social well-being of children. As Sara McLanahan and Isabel Sawhill note in the most recent issue of Princeton and Brookings’ Future of Children, “most scholars now agree that children raised by two biological parents in a stable marriage do better than children in other family forms across a wide range of outcomes.” Recent research also suggests marriage and family structure matter not just for individual children, but also for the economic and social well-being of entire communities. When it comes to economic mobility, for instance, we know from the work of Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren that “[low]-income children are most likely to succeed in counties” that have “a larger share of two-parent families.”

 Read Full Policy Brief Here

The Fatherhood Research & Practice Network (FRPN) is seeking proposals from teams of researchers and fatherhood programs to evaluate fatherhood services. The FRPN is a five-year national project that funds the evaluation of fatherhood programs working with low-income populations and offers a wealth of training and technical assistance to improve fatherhood practice and evaluation research. Evaluation studies help strengthen fatherhood programs and boost their potential for future funding.

This grant funding opportunity is designed for:

• Evaluations of fatherhood services designed to promote economic stability, effective parenting or coparenting with fathers and/or improve effective practice.
• Studies of innovative approaches to recruit, engage and retain fathers for services or fathers and mothers for coparenting services.
• Studies that focus on low-income, never-married and nonresident fathers.
• Studies that use rigorous evaluation designs (randomized controlled trials or strong quasi-experimental), replication studies or exploratory studies that systematically examine innovative approaches.

Eligible applicants include:

Read this report on the changes in family formation around the world… here

The World Family Map report monitors the global health of families by tracking 16 indicators in 49 countries, representing all regions of the world. This year’s report includes an essay examining how parents divide labor-force participation, housework, and child care.

IN MEMORIÂ

Charlene Lewis-Meeks

April 25, 1954 – September 18, 2015

Worthy of Double Honor as a Leader & Champion | Charlene Lewis-Meeks

Model Integration and Capacity Building Initiative: A Process for Assimilating Responsible Fatherhood within Children, Youth, and/or Family Systems of Care

By

Dr. Rufus Sylvester Lynch, ACSW, Chair, The Strong Families Commission Incorporated & Senior Advisor to Fathers & Families Coalition of America -  National Chair, Affiliate Development, Philadelphia, PA

  The Integration of Responsible Fatherhood within Foster Care Service Delivery and Other Children and Youth Servicing Systems” is a research, policy change, and practice enhancement project, designed to be a multi-faceted agency initiative, that utilizes evidence based learning, reciprocal knowledge building and exchange, advocacy, collaboration, systems integration, agency self-assessment and evaluation, model development, responsible fatherhood training and curriculum design, technical assistance in the form of individual agency consultation for capacity building, as well as agency and system policy and practice change. The principal objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of a select group of children, youth, and family service organizations to increase and sustain their involvement of Fathers in the lives of their children, in order to prevent and/or reduce their long term system involvement, through quality Father Engagement philosophies, policies, procedures, and protocols that improve child well-being and permanency case planning, where needed. The blueprint for the project has a total of ten goals, with an equal number of anticipated outcomes associated with those goals, evaluative strategies that accompany the goals, and performance measures to judge the success of the goals. The primary and most immediate goal is to champion the conversation and build an awareness of the value of Responsible Fatherhood within foster care service delivery and other children and youth servicing systems, through the initiation of the much needed dialog, by and among children, youth, and family focused agencies, regarding the value of safe father involvement to enhance the well-being of children in cross-systems of care. The research approach utilized is participatory action research. A Results Based Accountability Framework will be utilized to measure the overall success of the Project. To document organizational effectiveness and capacity growth made by individual agencies the DAPIM (Define, Assess, Plan, Implement, and Monitor) Framework will be utilized. Learn more how to implement a new model of expanding the capacity of your organization contact Dr. Rufus Lynch The Strong Families Commission Incorporated 215-879-1745  E-Mail Address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website Address: http://www.thestrongfamiliescommission.com/