Fatherhood Initiative

Executive Summary

Our mission is to empower fathers in the community on an ongoing basis, by providing a fatherhood foundational platform to assist their growth and development both personally and professionally for the well-being, improvement and sustainability of families.

Fatherlessness has been directly linked to most social illnesses in society and has negatively affected our most precious commodity, our children. These illnesses include gang affiliation, criminal activity, body disfiguring, smoking, obesity, bulimia, spiritual confusion, sexual disorientation, depression, mental abuse, emotional abuse, poverty, school drop-out, truancy, teenage sexual activity and many other high-risk behaviors.

Fatherhood is the number one social policy issue in America. This fact was confirmed by President Bill Clinton in 1995, the Gallup Poll in 1996, Congress in 1997, President George W. Bush in 2002 and President Barack Obama in 2009. In 2010, President Obama allocated $500 million of the federal budget towards a Fatherhood, Marriage and Families Innovation Fund. This fund gives grants to non-profits that support father and families, including job training programs and economic incentives for dads.

The United Job Creation Council Fatherhood Platform was formed to create a foundational systemic model to address the social illnesses in the African –American community of Service Planning Area (SPA) 6 in Los Angeles County utilizing fatherhood as our core component. SPA 6 was among the regions hardest hit by the economic downturn. The African-American population in this region felt this blow more severely.

Many residents in this region fall well below the state poverty level and in many instances are twice as poor. While only 9% of this population is African -American, they are considered by recent studies the most vulnerable, at-risk and underserved with limited resources or access to them.

Based on the analysis of the Los Angeles County data, the overarching concerns for men and their children in SPA 6 are neighborhood safety, health insurance, access to health care, and homicide respectively. These areas of concern are best addressed by providing the men of Los Angeles County with a comprehensive systemic approach to providing the necessary tools and processes to become an effective father to their children. This systemic approach should employ a structured education and support system that strategically addresses ten key areas: spirituality, health, family, appearance, dwelling, mobility, education, profession, leisure, and wealth.

Based on the research of the effort and demonstration of best practices in the industry, it would be more efficient to coordinate these efforts centrally. By creating a hub for fatherhood initiatives there should be an increase in accountability of dispersed funding and improved outcomes in the ten key areas listed above. Therefore, the goal of the UJCC Fatherhood Platform is to emerge as the preeminent fatherhood centralization hub in Los Angeles County.

The UJCC Fatherhood Platform serves as a foundational systemic model for families in Los Angeles County; and is a non-competitive systemic model built to assist organizations challenged with outreach, marketing, personnel, grant writing, and fiduciary responsibility. This Platform bridges the gap by providing products and services to the African-American community by utilizing a unique and revolutionary affinity network. Interfacing with organizations and those in need will produce efficient administration of prevention, intervention and restoration programs. This holistic approach assist men in the inherently systemic problem of being a father today.

The UJCC Fatherhood Platform acknowledges the church as the cornerstone of the African-American community. We will provide a wall of support for church leaders by removing some of their burden, assisting them with their visionary plans and expanding their in-reach and out-reach initiatives. By implementing our model, churches will inherit a proven system, effective tools and long-term consistent support. This will ease many church leader's frustration and difficulty in creating custom solutions to complex problems, as well as getting more men into the seats of the sanctuaries. To further support the church leader's vision, a monthly magazine will be distributed to the churches which will address specific fundamental and essential life values. Churches will be encouraged to contribute to this monthly magazine, which will enhance the community's ability to address the focus and needs of the target population.

The following activities will be conducted to ensure successful implementation for fathers, families, children and other stakeholders:

• Distribute an evidence-based fatherhood curriculum prepare fatherhood trainers and facilitators
• Distribute an annual fatherhood journal distribute a monthly fatherhood magazine
• Distribute a personal fatherhood legacy book distribute fatherhood desktop and mobile apps
• Develop a fatherhood community advisory team hold a monthly workshop and annual conference

Twelve month output efforts will accumulate a minimum of 500 men to be actively involved with the UJCC Fatherhood Platform ; graduate 200 men from an evidence-based curriculum who will invest their time and knowledge in their community; encourage 20 graduates to become facilitators in their city of residence; gather 100 father-friendly professionals to help fathers and their children in each target city; and gain support and dedication from 200 father-friendly and family-focused government agencies, corporations, community organizations, and educational institutions.

In conclusion, successfully connecting fathers and children to the appropriate community resource is paramount to our success as is our ability to track the effectiveness of the partnerships created to maintain support and sustainability. With this in mind, several measuring tools are in place to guarantee the success of the UJCC Fatherhood Platform.

Fatherhood Committee Roster

[ Committee members can log in here.]