Young Fathers in America
Promoting involved parenting among young fathers

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With one-third of all children born to single mothers, family support groups across the country are making a concerted effort to get fathers, particularly poor, young fathers, more involved with and responsible for their children.

In Denver, the Young Fathers Program was launched when the boyfriends of women attending a school for young mothers expressed a desire to become involved. The program provides parenting and relationship skills, peer support, and job readiness training for young men who want to be involved in their children's lives, whether they are married to the mothers or not. Program graduate Juan Lopez says "I learned from the program a big part of it is that you have to be just as involved in changing and feeding the baby, that's where the child becomes emotionally attached to you."

One of the greatest challenges facing these young fathers, says Robert Brady, the program creator, is the stereotypical perception that they "don't want to be involved, all they want to do is bring children into the world and then go about their own way. And the truth is that fathers do want to be involved but there hasn't been an opportunity for them to demonstrate [it]."

Many of these men haven't had a positive male role model in their lives, so they never learned how to be a good dad. They also may have personal histories including joblessness, substance abuse, or violence that may prevent them from becoming involved with their children. Often, the child's mother and the family of the mother may not even want them involved. The men in the Young Fathers Program are learning to overcome these obstacles, legally establishing paternity, obtaining employment, and paying child support, as well as becoming more involved in the daily care of their children.

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