Fatherhood in America
GETTING ABSENTEE FATHERS BACK ON TRACK AND INTO THEIR CHILDREN'S LIVES
THE ISSUE
While national attention in recent years has been focused on getting mothers and their children off of welfare, absentee fathers have often remained into the background. But new regulations across the country are insisting that states hold men accountable for their children who receive public assistance. And more and more people are realizing that the financial and emotional involvement of fathers is key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
FACTS AND STATS
From the Virginia Fatherhood Initiative.
HEARD ON TO THE CONTRARY
"We are at risk of becoming a culture
of fatherlessness."
-- Christina Hoff Sommers, American Enterprise
Institute
"I want to go back to basics. Even if
I were in a single-parent family, I would
want immediately to get a male role model
for that child and I would want to raise
that boy to believe that the most important
thing you could do would be to marry and
to become a father."
-- Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-Washington,
DC.
"I have some mixed feelings about investing
a lot in counseling [for absentee dads]
when there really is a connection to giving
them the ability to support themselves,
and then we can get the money for the
kids....Those young men should be brought
up to take responsibility."
-- Harriett Woods, Political Commentator.
RESOURCES
Check out the Department
of Health and Human Services website for
more resources on programs helping fathers.
Also, go to the Kids Campaign website for a guide on organizations for fathers.
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