Improving Children’s Lives by Educating and Empowering Fathers

In 1994, the National Fatherhood Initiative was created to improve the well-being of children by pursuing one single mission: giving them fathers who are committed to their success. Research conducted by NFI has shown that the federal government spends about $100 billion a year - all taxpayer money-providing programs to support children who live in homes without a father. In addition to the high economic costs of absent fathers, kids are at more risk of failing in school, becoming teen parents, living in poverty, and becoming involved in criminal activities.

The clearly defined strategy of NFI is to educate and inspire Americans to support their mission, equip organizations and fathers, and engage all sectors of society around the issue of increasing the numbers of involved, responsible, and committed fathers. NFI works with local, state, and national organizations around the country to "go where the dads are." They are focused on reaching out to needy fathers to give them skill-building resources that will help them be the best fathers they can be. There are six key sectors of the population that NFI focuses on:

Healthcare: Locations responsible for ensuring the health of children and their families, such as hospitals, clinics, parenting centers, and pregnancy resource centers.

Community-based: Organizations such as YMCAs, family resource centers, Head Start offices, schools, and other resources provided by local and stat communities.

Corrections: Department of Corrections facilities in all 50 states such as pre-release centers, youth programs, long-stay facilities, and prison ministries.

Work-Family Balance: Various Fortune 500 companies including Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Verizon, IBM, BP, Pacific Life, and KPMG, as well as others.

Christian: NFI resources are used by numerous churches and para-church organizations to equip fathers and strengthen families.

Military: Every branch of the U.S. military is using NFI resources, both domestically and overseas.

The NFI has a wide variety of printed and media resources including brochures, instructional curricula, booklets, and CD-ROMs. They offer a variety of events such as workshops, training conferences, and Webinars, to help fathers learn and build upon their capabilities. The online hub of NFI’s efforts, FatherSOURCE™, provides organizations with these materials. The NFI also hosts a number of programs and initiatives including a weekly Dad E-mail filled with suggestions and tips for helping fathers, and a mentoring program that encourages experienced fathers to mentor children without fathers or dads with little or no experience. Fathers can purchase skill-building resources on interactive CD-ROMs.

Just as important as NFI’s mission to equip fathers is their goal of educating fathers about the important role fathers play in a household. The organization uses four key tools to spread their message: Public Service Announcements on the radio and television; media appearances on popular television shows such as The Today Show, Fox News, C-SPAN, The Oprah Show, as well as print interviews in the Washington Post, the Washington Times, and others; partnerships with outside scholars such as Father Facts 5, the largest collection of research ever assembled; and the NFI website, which reaches thousands of individuals every day.

Roland Warren, the President of NFI, has a favorite saying that pretty much sums up the NFI mission: "Each child has a hole in his or her soul in the shape of his or her dad."

For more information about the National Fatherhood Initiative and how you can help, visit www.fatherhood.org.