CRFCFW's Blog

President Obama's article on Father's Day

2009-06-20T11:45:00.002-04:00

Read the full article here.

Our website is live!

2009-06-20T11:44:00.000-04:00

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http://crfcfw.columbia.edu/index.html

Watch the NPCL Father's Day Rally at The Lincoln Memorial LIVE

2009-06-20T09:42:00.002-04:00

Black Father's Week

2009-05-29T12:35:00.000-04:00

Save the date

2009-05-21T01:08:00.002-04:00

Dr. Mincy quoted in AP article

2009-05-11T11:11:00.003-04:00

On May 6, 2009, Dr. Mincy was quoted in the Associated Press article entitled "Hopes rise for progress on fatherhood problems" by David Crary.

NEW YORK (AP) — With a centennial celebration of Father's Day coming next month, and a new president committed to supporting better parenting, liberals and conservatives alike say the political stars may be aligned for major progress in promoting responsible fatherhood.

It's an issue that's been divisive in the past, even as research made clear that the estimated 24 million children growing up with absent fathers — a disproportionate number of them African-American — are at higher risk in regard to poverty, crime and other social problems.

But the left-right divide over the government's role in solidifying such families appears to be narrowing at this stage of Barack Obama's presidency.

"This is a watershed moment, to say the least," said Roland Warren, president of the National Fatherhood Initiative. "With President Obama — the first African-American husband and father in the White House — there's a unique opportunity here to draw attention to the issue."

Numerous events are planned around Father's Day — ranging from policy symposiums to a National Rally for Responsible Fatherhood at the Lincoln Memorial. Obama, raised in the absence of his own father, has been invited to the rally and is expected to mark the day with an appeal for men to be more involved in their children's lives.

Other rallies will be held nationwide, said a lead organizer, Jeffery Johnson of the National Partnership for Community Leadership. "We want a million men to make a commitment to be the best dads they can."

The events celebrate the nation's 100th Father's Day, dating from observances in Spokane, Wash., on June 19, 1910. A Father's Day also had been observed two years earlier in Fairmont, W.Va.

Obama already has demonstrated his interest in fatherhood issues in multiple ways.

He is a past co-sponsor of an ambitious fatherhood bill that Democrats Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Rep. Danny Davis of Illinois plan to reintroduce in conjunction with Father's Day. Many of its provisions are aimed at removing barriers that deter noncustodial fathers from providing financial support to their children.

Obama also has designated responsible fatherhood as one of the four priorities of his new faith-based advisory council, a politically diverse group of religious and civic leaders.

"This could be the real signature issue of this council," said Jim Wallis, founder of the liberal Christian social-justice network Sojourners. "If we're going to pursue this — and we must — you need to break up the left-right culture-wars polarities."

Among the conservative council members sensing new opportunities on fatherhood is the Rev. Frank Page, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

In the past, Page said, Republicans addressing fatherhood problems tended to emphasize the need for individual responsibility, while Democrats proposed government intervention.

"That's why I am encouraged to see our president stressing personal responsibility of fathers," Page said. "I'm an evangelical, not a member of his party, but I have to say congratulations — what an encouragement it is to see the way he fathers his two daughters.

"It's a good time to approach this issue," Page added. "I think we may get behind some of the divisiveness that may have erupted in the past."

Page said the evolution of the responsible fatherhood movement has buttressed the conservative viewpoint that children fare best when raised by both a mother and father — a viewpoint that has prompted supporters of same-sex marriage to counter that children from gay-parented families fare equally well.

"The challenge we have is to be respectful of all families even as we promote responsible fatherhood," said advisory council member Harry Knox of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights group.

Over the years, some women's rights leaders have been wary of fatherhood initiatives, suggesting that the needs of low-income single mothers were great and should not be slighted by tailoring support programs for fathers.

"No one objects to responsible fatherhood," said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women. "What we object to is the use of very limited welfare funds that are needed for the support of children being diverted into job training and other programs for fathers that are not available to the mothers."

Joshua DuBois, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, said Obama's record on women's rights should help ease any concerns over his interest in fatherhood.

"The president has been such a solid supporter of women's issues," DuBois said. "They know he's not going to do anything to compromise the position of women in their families, and that trust is key in the search for common ground."

Scores of fatherhood programs already are flourishing around the country, but advocacy groups say there is a huge need for more funding and resources to provide job training, offer domestic-violence counseling and assist fathers re-entering their communities from prison.

The Bayh-Davis bill would meet some of those needs.

"We spend billions of dollars dealing with the problems that fatherlessness can cause," Bayh said. "Now we're getting into the root causes. ... A number of forces are all coming together at one moment to create a palpable sense of possibility."

For advocates who've been working on fatherhood problems over many years, there's a particular excitement.

"We hope that the stars are aligning in a way that will enable to us to get some things done that are long overdue," said Professor Ronald Mincy, who teaches at Columbia University's School of Social Work. "We have a president who's been very forceful on this issue — no one has to motivate him. Now it's time to put his money where his mouth is."

Martin says "Man up and be a real dad."

2009-05-07T17:50:00.002-04:00

Roland S. Martin rarely bites his tongue, so I was not surprised to read the title of his latest post on CNN. This week he is discussing Darryl Strawberry's book "Straw:: Finding my Way" and remarking that a constant theme is the missing in action father. While Strawberry's father wasn't missing physically, emotionally he was absent.

Martin wonders aloud "Where are the fathers?"

It has gotten to the point that a mother is considered essential in a family, but a father is optional, expendable, and increasingly irrelevant.
...
I am convinced that our city streets have turned into killing fields because dads have abdicated their responsibility in the raising of their children. Yes, mom is vital. But there is something different about dad speaking, lecturing, cajoling, disciplining, embracing, loving and caring.

Our schools are filled with children losing their minds, and teachers unable to control them. When that happens, it's typically mom, grandma or an aunt coming to the school to deal with the problem. Ask a teacher or principal today and they will say they rarely see dads.
...
I've called on pastors nationwide to stop the stream of momma, grandmother, aunts and female cousins coming to the altar for baby dedications with no man in sight. That pastor should say, "Until I personally meet with the father, I will not dedicate this child." Somebody has to hold that man accountable for his actions.

It's time that men hold their "boys" accountable. Actor Hill Harper had a friend who once said that he hadn't seen his child in some time, but he found time to play basketball with Harper. Hill said, "Unless you call your child now, we can't play ball." See, Hill had to force him to accept his responsibilities.

The failure of manhood in America -- fatherhood -- has reached epidemic proportions. And unless our religious and cultural institutions say enough is enough, we are going to see another generation of children growing up with dad absent and unaccounted for.

While I'm down for the cause of mothers, family members and friends holding men accountable for the children, I really think that men should just do that on their own. You shouldn't have to be punished to acknowledge your children. You shouldn't have to have your child put you on blast (twice) in public space for you to acknowledge their presence. You should be a father to children simply because they are your child and you love them.

e.

Community Forum on Fatherhood

2009-04-29T18:59:00.002-04:00

Did you know that about 69% of births to Blacks and about 48% of Hispanics are to unmarried mothers and FATHERS¹?

What does this mean for our community?

Fathers who are unmarried and unemployed or underemployed often have child support orders that they are unable to pay.
Fathers who do not meet their child support obligations for any reason are less likely to spend time with their children than fathers who do.
Children who have no contact with their fathers are more likely to be poor and experience slower social, emotional and educational development than children who have contact with their fathers.

What is the government doing to help?

All of these factors have led federal, state and local governments to develop policies and programs to help low-income noncustodial parents, mostly fathers, meet their child support obligations. Examples include:

The New York State Strengthening Families Initiative is a 5-site demonstration project that helps unemployed and underemployed noncustodial parents, mostly fathers, find jobs and make their child support payments.
The New York State Noncustodial Parent Earned Income Tax Credit provides up to $1095 for a noncustodial parent who works and supports his child(ren). New York State was the first state to provide a special credit aimed at noncustodial parents. To qualify for this credit a noncustodial father must be a New York resident tax payer, over the age of 18, with an adjusted gross income no higher than $34,000 a year and be current on their child support payments.
Several programs have been rolled out in order to help underemployed and underemployed fathers meet their child support obligations or settle arrears.NYC Arrears Adjustment reduces the arrears (owed to the City) of noncustodial fathers who obtain jobs and pay their current support orders. The NYC Default Department of Social Services Order Initiative helps fathers to reduce their child support orders down to a level they can afford, if their current orders are too high because they did not appear in court when their initial orders were established. NYS-Poverty-Level NCP Modification and Arrears Pilot Initiative to Improve Child Support Compliance reduces the child support orders and arrears of noncustodial parents who earn no more than the federal poverty level and who receive cash assistance or medical services. If these programs worked well, more fathers would be eligible for the The New York State Noncustodial Parent Earned Income Tax Credit.

So, what can we do to better understand these programs and help these programs better understand us?

Except for the employment services offered by the demonstration project, noncustodial parents in our community do not make much use of any these programs. This means that they continue to be burdened with child support obligations and arrears that they will never be able to pay, and that they cannot access the NCP EITC, which is designed to encourage them to work, despite low wages, and support their children.

On June 22, 2009 the Men’s Ministry of Abyssinian Baptist Church in collaboration with Columbia University’s Center for Research on Fathers, Families and Child Well-Being will host a community forum to consider why these efforts go underutilized. Are fathers in our community unaware of these efforts? Are there barriers to their use that policy makers don’t understand? Do their informal arrangements with mothers to support their children make them better off than the formal child support system? The purpose of the forum is to discuss these and other questions with fathers who are affected, the service providers who assist them, state and city child support officials, and Assemblyman Keith Wright. The goals of the forum are to facilitate dialogue between groups, to provide information about these programs and policies to the community, and to provide feedback to policy makers.

1. Child Trends. "Percentage of Births to Unmarried Women." Available online on the Child Trends Databank.