Introduction
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Rene Sterling
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“Before children can be taught, they must be ready to learn.
And it’s their parents, both mothers and fathers, who are their first
and most important teachers. Research tells us that how children are nurtured
during the first few years has enormous impact on their entire lives. We
know something else too, that a good dad can be just as important to a
child’s successful development as a good mom.”
Donna E. Shalala, Secretary
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Fathers Matter! Teleconference
October 28, 1999.
“Too often it’s been assumed that the mother has the
primary responsibility for encouraging the children’s learning and their
development….We need to engage all fathers to join mothers as full and
equal partners in education.”
Richard W. Riley, Secretary
Department of Education
Fathers Matter! Teleconference
October 28, 1999.
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Across the nation, there is a growing recognition of the importance of involving
fathers in their children’s learning. With more than half of children
in the United States spending at least some portion of their lives in a home
without a father, finding innovative ways to engage fathers as active
participants in their children’s lives — both financially
and emotionally — has never been more important. Federal and state
governments are promoting responsible fatherhood by improving work opportunities
for low-income fathers, increasing paternity establishment and child support
collections, enhancing parenting skills, promoting adult education and family
literacy, supporting access and visitation by non-custodial parents, helping
communities address domestic violence, and involving boys and young men in
preventing teenage pregnancy.
Schools, early childhood programs, child care agencies, family service
organizations, after-school Teachers and family caregivers have long recognized
that children’s educational success depends on the active involvement
of both fathers and mothers. The dramatic rise over the past thirty years
in the number of children growing up in fatherless homes poses a special
challenge for educators. By age 18, it is estimated that more than half of
the children in the United States will spend part of their childhood in a
single-parent home (Cherlin, 1992), usually away from their father (Nord,
Brimhall, & West, 1997). For a variety of reasons, contact with the
non-custodial father may lessen over time or become non-existent (Furstenberg
et al; Furstenberg & Nord; Seltzer & Bianchi as cited in Nord &
Zill, 1996b, p, A-10), leaving children without one of their most important
resources for future success — their fathers.
Where to?
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Home Pages:
HHS Fatherhood Initiative
Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Last updated: 02/28/01