National Fatherhood Initiative

[Red Five]

Hey everyone!

    Back to the SPARC Boards once again - has anyone heard of this "National Fatherhood Initiative" - I saw an article from South Bend Tribune with Senator Bayh demanding father's get involved with their kids to reduce costs to the government and to social fabric.
    Other than he's been on some other planet too long, why do I suspect it's another program/feelgood item to screw us even further?

    Oh, yeah, I did blast him and his staff out of the stars with the truth about how many of us are deadbolted dads, and I shipped him videotape of my abusive ex.  Basically, put up or shut up.

Yours,

Red Five :7

P.S.  I also forgot to ask - have there been any stats out there tracking how many PAS affected kids DO return to the estranged parent and or normalacy in their lives?  I'd be curious to see them if they exist.

[MYSONSDAD]

Any chance you could post the article with his e-mail address?

Some of us might might be interested in responding.

'Children Learn what they Live'

[Red Five]

Hey there!

   It was "Sen Bayh: Nation facing epidemic of fatherlessness" South Bend Tribune-Star, sometime around early May 2004. the problem I had with the article is that it tied money to a particular requirement: "It also provides funds for media campaigns to promote to promote the same goals as the grant program, and requires all organizations that recieve grant money to coordinate with a state or local domestic violence center."

   In plain English, if you have dads who sign up for this, watchout that the Domestic Violence Center doesn't add your name to their hit lists.

   Screw this bullcrap - FIRST they create the problem with no-fault divorce, then blame men for it all, then punish them - and we send MEN to fight for this shit?  I'm with the Austrailians who just launched a campaign to inform men to stop having sex and kids for their own mental and financial safety - can you imagine just what that sort of response that message would get HERE?

Red Five  )(

[MYSONSDAD]

I will see what I can find in a google search. Most papers have archives.
Sounds interesting to say the least. Not a bad idea from the Austrailians.

Even though I am in the biggest mess of my life and fighting for the  right to be a Father to my son. I do not look back with regret. I have the one thing in the universe that can not be replaced. He makes every battle worth fighting for. Day by day, inch by inch.

I have no intentions of marrying again, never, and I will never father another child, unless there is an iron clad contract or the laws in this country change.

 
"Children learn what they live"

[MYSONSDAD]

For Immediate Release Contact:  202/224-5623
July 25, 2000  


Bayh Testifies at First Senate Hearing on Fatherhood
Bayh's bill aims to reconnect absent fathers with their children


Washington, D.C. - Recognizing the challenges and consequences of the growing crisis of fatherlessness, the U.S. Senate today held a hearing on the issue for the first time in its history. U.S. Senator Evan Bayh, author of the bipartisan Responsible Fatherhood Act, testified before the Finance Committee as part of a hearing that also included community leaders, policy experts, and legislators.
"Addressing the problem of absent fathers must be a national priority because it impacts the well being of America's children, families, and communities," Bayh said. "Our children deserve, whenever possible, the love and care of two involved parents."

Bayh said that despite the country's historic economic prosperity there is an undercurrent of social uneasiness and many indicators suggest the cause may be the increase in absentee fathers. The number of children living in households without fathers has tripled over the last forty years, from just over 5 million in 1960 to more than 17 million today.

"This trend leads me to believe that this is not an isolated problem -- our country is facing an epidemic of fatherlessness," Bayh said, explaining that when children live absent from their fathers, children are five times more likely to live in poverty, twice as likely to commit crimes, more likely to bring weapons and drugs into the classroom, twice as likely to drop out of school, twice as likely to be abused, more likely to commit suicide, over twice as likely to abuse alcohol or drugs and more likely to become pregnant as teenagers.

The Responsible Fatherhood Act seeks to raise public awareness and community involvement on the issue of absentee fathers and the importance of two-parent families through a state-by-state media campaign, a state block grant program for fatherhood programs, and the creation of a national clearinghouse to share best practices. The bill also seeks to remove federal barriers to responsible fatherhood and two-parent, married families through direct child-support payments to families, and state incentives for programs that promote maintenance of two-parent families and responsible fatherhood.

"The investment called for in this legislation is fiscally responsible because it deals with the root causes and not just the symptoms of many of the social problems that cost our society a great deal of money," Bayh said, "We spend billions of dollars each year on the problems associated with fatherlessness." Bayh pointed to a few examples to back up his claim:


The consequences of drug and alcohol abuse cost the U.S. more than $110 billion per year;

Programs aimed at keeping kids in school cost the U.S. $8 billion per year;

Poverty relief for families and children cost the U.S. more than $105 billion last year; and,

Teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are estimated to cost over $21 billion per year.
"All this adds up to a staggering price we pay for the consequences of our fraying social fabric: broken families and too many men not being involved with their kids," said Bayh. "The Responsible Fatherhood Act will begin – one life at a time, one community at a time – to help. It takes the approach of the old adage, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.'"

Bayh said the second part of his bill aims to influence public opinion through a $25 million media grant program that will allow each state to air television ads that convey the importance of fatherhood during times that fathers are actually listening and watching television. Bayh showed the committee members two examples of effective fatherhood ads.

"These ads not only emphasize the importance of responsible fatherhood, but they make clear that the love and care of two involved parents is vital to the well-being of our children," Bayh said. "The efforts of single mothers are truly heroic, but they should not be expected to raise a child alone, without financial or emotional support for that child. Our bill recognizes the importance of both parents to the healthy development of a child and aims to strengthen fragile families and promote responsible fatherhood."

"Sadly, the love and support of both parents is not always possible," Bayh said. "It is important for us to encourage responsible fatherhood without creating destructive, violent relationships. Some of the most successful fatherhood programs incorporate a domestic violence prevention component, teaching non-custodial parents to deal with their anger in a nonviolent and constructive manner."

Bayh told the committee that his bill has a broad coalition of support, including a bipartisan group of Senators, the National Fatherhood Initiative, the Progressive Policy Institute, the Hudson Institute, the National Practitioners Network for Fathers and Families Inc., the National Center for Strategic Nonprofit Planning and Community Leadership, the Children's Institute International, and a bipartisan group of Governors.

As Governor of Indiana, Bayh initiated one of the nation's first statewide comprehensive efforts to tackle the problem of fatherlessness. Bayh implemented a fatherhood grant program for community based and faith-based organizations targeted at restoring fatherhood and renewing families by teaching parenting skills, employment skills, and encouraging healthy child-parent relationships. The effort helped over 5,000 Hoosier fathers reconnect with their children.

Other witnesses at today's hearing included: Senator Bayh; Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), cosponsor of Bayh's fatherhood bill; Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI); David L. Levy, Esq., President, Children's Rights Council, Washington, DC; Ms. Evelyn Lynn, State Representative, Ormond Beach, Florida, who will discuss Florida's efforts; and, Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, President, National Center for Strategic Nonprofit Planning and Community Leadership, Washington, DC.
 

###

Return to News Room

"Children learn what they live"

[Red Five]

Hey!

   Yup - we have a Hooiser version, but the devil is in the details of this Act - but I like the idea of a couple million dads writing in and letting them know in Congress:

   1.  No rights, no service - go fight your own wars.
   2.  No voice, no support - don't expect us to wave flags and beat chests with pride.
   3.  Want support?  Go To Hell - get all the women to do it for a change.  This includes Iraq, Afghanistan and every other country - bring the men home - after all, aren't "boys are stupid - throw rocks at them"?

   Like I said, I gave it to his office with video.  Got seven years of crap thrown at me, and now that the book is almost finished on it, I'll get it published overseas where U.S. Feminazis can't touch it.

Red )(