Support helps fathers take more active role in their children's lives
Gainesville For All was pleased with the turnout of cheering dads who greeted and encouraged students as they arrived for a full day of standardized testing at Rawlings Elementary School. It was the final event of this school year for our Fatherhood Initiative Team, providing momentum we’ll use as classes resume in August.
Our Fatherhood Initiative Team was organized last year to serve fathers and their families at our soon-to-open Gainesville Empowerment Zone Family Learning Center as well as families at Metcalfe and Rawlings elementary schools. GNV4ALL hopes to build long-term relationships with dads that can help lead to improved classroom performance of their children and stronger families.
For decades, research has backed up what once was considered common knowledge: The connection between a stable home life and classroom achievement.
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What’s more, children with involved fathers are less likely to get into trouble and wind up in the juvenile justice system, which touches the lives of a disproportionate number of Black children in Alachua County and across the country.
Amid this national crisis in which 18 million children — one in four — live without a father in their home, there is finally encouraging news that help is on the way for organizations like ours. The Florida Legislature during the 2022 session approved a new state law authorizing $70 million in funding to promote responsible fatherhood in the state.
At the bill’s signing last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative and community leaders said all the right things: They recognized that fatherhood can’t be legislated but emphasized that there is a support role the state can play to encourage fathers to become more active role in the lives of their children
“Education comes in many forms and empowering our fathers with the knowledge they need to better themselves helps the community as a whole,” said Glen Gilzean, president and CEO of the Central Florida Urban League.
The new law’s provisions include parenting education specifically for fathers, as well as funding for job counseling, managing child support obligations and mentoring programs.
Locally, Pastor Gerard Duncan, who has led fatherhood initiatives for more than a decade, is leading new efforts to help ensure that Alachua County organizations and governmental entities get a fair share of the new state funding to help dads.
As the founder of the Innovative Dads program in 2010, coupled with personal experience growing up without an active father, Duncan said he recognized early how the current social services system focused almost solely on the needs of mothers and children. He described the situation as a form of “systemic oppression.”
Consequently, too many fathers are being written off as deadbeats.
As a member of the governor’s faith-based advisory council, Duncan is working to ensure that leaders in Alachua are positioned to take advantage of the newly created funding stream for fathers.
Last month he organized a Fatherhood Summit that brought together non-profits and government leaders such as state Sen. Keith Perry and city of Gainesville Chief Operations Officer Tony Jones.
With strong support from Tallahassee, organizations such as GNV4ALL can hope to assist fathers with a wide range of services such as help finding jobs and managing child support obligations. The funding can also be used for much-needed mentoring of at-risk youths who often become involved in drug trafficking and violent criminal activity.
Indeed, there is reason to be optimistic that the cheering heard Thursday morning for students at Rawlings Elementary will spread to dads who need a little positive reinforcement too.
James F. Lawrence is executive director of GNV4ALL. Send inquiries to gnv4all@gmail.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: James Fl. Lawrence: The benefits of GNV4ALL, state fatherhood programs
