Last Week, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded just over $119 million in funding to programs that promote healthy marriages and relationships and that help fathers succeed as parents, as family members, and as providers for their children. Given the challenges facing kids today, local efforts to promote father involvement and healthy family relationships are essential to helping families thrive and children realize their dreams.

The funds were awarded through a competitive process designed to support a broad range of strategies to fostering healthy relationships and responsible fatherhood. Of the $119,393,729 million awarded about half of the funding is directed toward responsible fatherhood programs and about half toward programs focused on healthy marriage. This funding will be administered by the Office of Family Assistance at ACF which will require that programs have procedures in place to address issues of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect. Participation in these programs must be voluntary.

Grant funds will be used to support local efforts including:

• Comprehensive efforts that combine a focus on building stronger family relationships with job training and career counseling efforts to help individuals and parents find employment that can help families make ends meet. This focus on fostering employment success recognizes that financially secure families are more likely to provide stable and enriching environments for children.
• Marriage and relationship building, divorce reduction, and programs that may include parenting skill building, financial management, and conflict resolution;
• Responsible fatherhood promotion through counseling, mentoring, enhancing marriage and relationship skills, parenting and activities to foster economic stability; and
• Initiatives aimed at assisting fathers who are former prisoners reentering communities - and families – to rebuild family relationships and improve their employment prospects.

George Sheldon, Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at HHS, recognized the impact this funding will have saying, “A strong and stable family can help propel children toward success. These grants support programs that promote responsible parenting, encourage healthy relationships and marriage, and help families move toward self-sufficiency and economic stability.”

This funding is going to a broad spectrum of organizations who understand the importance of engaged fathers and healthy family relationships. These grants offer support to communities and families across the country looking to strengthen our next generation by building strong families in which parents can meet the emotional and financial needs of their children.

For more information on these grants and a list of grantees, please read HHS PRESS RELEASE this week and follow the attached links. For more information on federal fatherhood programs, including information on President Obama’s commitment to these issues, visit Fatherhood.gov.

One of the most frequent workshop question that I am asked is; “What does father involvement mean and what does that look like?” The goal of a father’s involvement is to nurture his child’s intellectual, emotional, physical, social and spiritual development. The key is to focus on his child’s strengths utilizing the natural assets of a father’s parenting style.

Teaching through Play - Teaching through play is what draws your children to you. Making learning fun is the hallmark of a father’s parenting style. Use games to teach them to learn their colors, numbers, shapes and the alphabet. Playing games by the rules teaches social emotional skills as well as nurturing intellectual and physical development.

Modeling & Coaching - We nurture our child’s intellectual and emotional development through modeling behavior or demonstrating how to do a task. Break tasks down into step by step processes. First model then coach them through the steps praising for each attempt and celebrating their accomplishment! Providing encouragement and praise is a vital part of your involvement.

Loving through Laughter - We teach our children to laugh at their mistakes by letting them see us laugh at our own mistakes. When children laugh WITH their father, it makes them feel good. The shared experience draws them closer to you and strengthens the relationship. Laughter is one of the ways to ignite or restore hope in your family. Being able to laugh with your family and laugh at yourself lets your children know that you are approachable. It makes them feel more comfortable to talk about their mistakes. Because they see you laughing at your silly mistakes, it makes you more transparent to your children. That enables your children to draw closer to you, because they understand that it’s ok to make mistakes in our house.

Intentional Involvement - Intentional father involvement takes time, patience and persistence, but ALL relationships require work if we want them to grow. It’s no different learning to improve your relationship with your child! With a little time and practice you will see that it is worth every effort!

Randell D. Turner, Ph.D. is Senior Associate & Child & Family Therapist with the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse. Throughout his two decades of dedication to the Fatherhood Movement, Dr. Turner has authored award winning Responsible Fatherhood resources, directed community based and re-entry fatherhood programming.