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TAKE PRIDE - JUNE 2008
UNITED METHODIST COMMUNITY HOUSE:
INCREASING THE INVOLVEMENT OF FATHERS IN FAMILIES…
JUST IN TIME FOR FATHER’S DAY.
Every year on the 3rd Sunday in June, Americans celebrate Father's Day and reflect on the importance of fathers and their vital role in the lives of children.
Unfortunately, there are children who fail to benefit from the upbringing a loving father provides, and are placed into a world full of hardship and challenges, without that much needed support.
According to the National Commission on Children, fatherless children are five times more likely to be poor and are at a greater risk for dropping out of school, alcohol/ drug use, adolescent pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, mental illness, and suicide.
Over the last half century, all levels of government have responded to these statistics with a series of programs aimed at helping single mothers and their children, but have largely ignored fathers.
Recently, however, there has been an increase in programs that address some of the critical issues associated with children who grow up without fathers, and also provide ways to encourage men to reconnect and bond with their families. These fatherhood programs are relatively new and serve as a representation of a growing movement.
United Methodist Community House recently hosted one of the Dad’s Free Legal Clinic Series sponsored by the Michigan Department of Human Services’ Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. This clinic was one of three statewide meetings designed to help fathers learn more about their rights and responsibilities as parents. Participants received valuable information and legal advice regarding paternity, child custody, child support, and parenting time, which all prove to be major obstacles that fathers encounter.
Fathers find that connecting with their children after a separation or divorce is not as simple as just wanting to be involved. They face a series of legal and financial barriers to being responsible dads; and poor fathers, who are the focus of the fatherhood initiatives, are hit particularly hard because they often do not have the education or cannot afford the legal expertise needed to overcome them.
For example, child support is often a financial lifeline for single mothers and their children and can leave many fathers’ feeling overwhelmed with debt, and even deter some from working because a significant portion of their pay can be seized.
Fathers are responsible for child support while they are in school, unemployed, incarcerated, and even if the mother of the child remarries. As a penalty for owing child support, the government can suspend a driver’s license, refuse to grant a passport, or even sentence a man to jail for up to six months.
This is a system that continuously overwhelms fathers who may not know how to exercise their legal rights. With the help from programs like the Dad’s Free Legal Clinic, fathers can overcome these barriers and still be actively involved in all aspects of the lives of their child(ren).
“Whether parents live together or not, they are connected by the care and concern for their children,” says Duane Micheal Wilson, Coordinator of the DHS Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. “This information makes a difference to a dad who wants to be involved in his child’s life but doesn’t know how.”
For more information regarding the Grand Rapids Dad’s Legal Clinic, please contact Kimberly Steedy at (517) 432-8406.
For information regarding other fatherhood programs, please feel free to contact United Methodist Community House (616) 452-3226.