… while Fatherhood Initiative fills in gaps in dads’ child-rearing abilities

hildren who have a solid father figure in their lives are more likely to finish high school, more likely to go to college, and less likely to go to jail or get involved with drugs and alcohol and more likely to be good fathers themselves,” notes Sarah McCluan, spokesperson for the local Allegheny Intermediate Unit.

That’s why the Fatherhood Initiative is part of the AIU’s Family Support Centers (see above). “Sometimes fathers are left out in the cold,” says McCluan. “Sometimes their dads weren’t around or they didn’t get hands-on experience with kids. The program is to help dads learn to be better dads and overcome barriers,” from low income to a recent stint in jail.

The Fatherhood Initiative helps with everything from jobs, education and attaining drivers’ licenses to nurturing and child development skills. It holds monthly topical meetings in five of the family centers. One of the main focuses is on economic self-sufficiency, from resume building to finding apprenticeships.

“Our goal is to have the father understand child development — and how they can be the best father they can be,” says Initiative director Larry Klinger, the AIU’s program manager of family and community education services. If a child of three is coloring outside the lines, for instance, a father ought to know that this is not an occasion for correction; that’s age-appropriate behavior. Inappropriate discipline could harm a child’s ability to properly learn something else later, such  as writing.

The Initiative also models proper parental behavior to prevent child abuse, Klinger adds, since “there has been, around the nation, a spike in child abuse cases.”

Annual events include a Father’s Day cookout in Mellon Park, in conjunction with the Allegheny County Fatherhood Collaborative, which drew 500 in June; a December fatherhood awards banquet; a February father-daughter dance; and a September day in the park with the dads.

Fathers may be reluctant to seek help or advice, he notes, so the Initiative actively recruits their attendance. “Some of the incentives draw them into the meeting, but they stay because they see 10 or 20 other guys at the meetings who are going through a similar situation and they are able to connect with them.”

Writer: Marty Levine

Sources: Larry Klinger, Sarah McCluan