How Fatherhood Initiative Programs are Molding Men into Fathers

A normal and healthy family environment consists of two parents and their kids. However, there are many families today that are broken up due to one of the following reasons: separation, divorce, death of one parent or absenteeism due to work engagements and negligence. Many a times, fathers are the absent party in broken or single parent families. This is the main reason why there are numerous fatherhood initiative programs in place to help get more fathers actively involved in the lives of their kids.

Why Fathers are Often Absent from the Lives of their Children

It is evidently clear that children require both parents to ensure their well-being as they grow up. Having a male role model and a father figure in the same man is quite essential for kids. However, parenthood is not an easy task and many find it intimidating and challenging.

Teenagers and young men are often not ready for fatherhood. More often than not, such fathers abandon their duties and flee the responsibility of raising their kids. Studies have shown that the fear of responsibility and feeling overwhelmed are two factors that cause many young fathers to abandon their children.

Other men leave their families after divorcing or separating from their wives. When such men take off, they become distant from their children and often go for months without any physical interaction. This creates a barrier that only grows with time. Eventually, many fathers end up paying monthly child support but remain absent from the lives of their kids.

Importance of Initiative Programs

There are several initiative programs that have been set up by the government and other non-governmental organizations. They operate as non-profit entities and are primarily involved in helping fathers to assume their parenting role. They ensure that non-resident fathers are slowly integrated back into the lives of their kids. They teach many men how to become responsible and reliable father figures for their children.

These programs help men take charge of their lives and become financially independent. This enables them to pay for child support and give their kids a good education and a happy lifestyle. Excellent programs assist men to find meaningful employment, learn how to manage their money and become economically stable. Established initiative programs manage many partnerships within their local communities hence assist fathers secure employment.

Most programs have a group support and facilitation system that brings together fathers and allow them to create a supportive network. Here participants meet occasionally and discuss issues that they face daily as they try to re-integrate back into the lives of their kids. They share stories of the challenges they face and exchange ideas on important skills to use as they interact with their children. These programs require purposeful, authentic and tailored programming to ensure active engagement and participation.

Today, fatherhood programs are helping many men, young and old, to become better fathers. They stress on the importance of maintain meaningful employment, communicating with kids and their mothers, keeping kids first as well as participation in a functional support group.