By Michael V. Cusenza
Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced a $7 million expansion of the “Fatherhood Initiative,” which helps dads reconnect with their children, provide financial support, and develop parenting skills.
Studies have shown that children with involved fathers are less likely to enter the criminal justice system, benefiting the whole city and keeping communities safe. According to The Fatherhood Project:
- Fathers and infants can be equally as attached as mothers and infants. When both parents are involved with the child, infants are attached to both parents from the beginning of life.
- Father involvement is related to positive child health outcomes in infants, such as improved weight gain in preterm infants and improved breastfeeding rates.
- Father involvement using authoritative parenting (loving and with clear boundaries and expectations) leads to better emotional, academic, social, and behavioral outcomes for children.
- Children who feel a closeness to their father are: twice as likely as those who do not to enter college or find stable employment after high school, 75 percent less likely to have a teen birth, 80 percent less likely to spend time in jail, and half as likely to experience multiple depression symptoms.
- Fathers occupy a critical role in child development. Father absence hinders development from early infancy throughout childhood and into adulthood. The psychological harm of father absence experienced during childhood persists throughout the life course.
- The quality of the father-child relationship matters more than the specific amount of hours spent together. Non-resident fathers can have positive effects on children’s social and emotional well-being, as well as academic achievement and behavioral adjustment.
- High levels of father involvement are correlated with higher levels of sociability, confidence, and self control in children. Children with involved fathers are less likely to act out in school or engage in risky behaviors in adolescence.
- Children with actively involved fathers are: 43 percent more likely to earn A’s in school and 33 percent less likely to repeat a grade than those without engaged dads.
- Father engagement reduces the frequency of behavioral problems in boys while also decreasing delinquency and economic disadvantage in low-income families.
- Father engagement reduces psychological problems and rates of depression in young women.
DYCD has operated and overseen the Fatherhood Initiative for over 20 years, supporting an average of more than 1,000 fathers and families. The program is informed by proven studies that show children with involved fathers are less likely to enter the criminal justice system, and that an active and nurturing style of fathering is associated with improved verbal skills for infants, greater patience for toddlers, and better intellectual functioning and academic achievement among adolescents. The Fatherhood Initiative offers dads and their children up to six months of case management — with follow-up services as needed for up to one year — and service plans that address five core areas: parenting skills development, effective co-parenting with the child’s guardian, employment/education, child support, and child visitation/placement. DYCD partners with other agency fatherhood eff orts, and coordinates annual Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Dads Take Your Child to School Day events.
“To be the best city to raise a family, we need to ensure families remain connected and receive holistic support from city government. DYCD’s ‘Fatherhood Initiative’ has a proven track record of investing in fathers and families for over two decades,” Adams said. “Now, our administration is going even further by doubling the program, expanding services, and ensuring that families continue to thrive in our city.”
