Good Dads learned Tuesday morning that it is among 109 organizations in 38 states to receive grant funding via U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Administration for Children and Families.
The ACF said in a press release on Tuesday that more than $100 million was slated for initiatives related to Healthy Marriage, Responsible Fatherhood and Strong Families.
“Children with involved fathers are less likely to live in poverty, experience food insecurity, or engage in risky behaviors,” the press release said. “Involved fathers report higher levels of life satisfaction, clear direction, and purpose.”
Grantees will promote these through one of three initiatives. Good Dads falls under the FORGE Fatherhood (Family, Opportunity, Resilience, Grit, Engagement) initiative.
The nonprofit will provide new services to fathers and families to meet ACF’s service mandates of relationship education, responsible parenting and economic stability, under the new program title The Good Dads Great Communities Initiative.
It plans to serve 87 counties in Missouri (which covers most of the state with the exception of the St. Louis region and the bootheel) but and will focus especially on rural areas and small to mid-size communities in the state.
It will “offer a comprehensive 26-hour curriculum that will include parenting education through ‘Fundamentals for Good Dads,‘ relationship skills training via PREP 8.0 or Within My Reach, and economic stability workshops such as budgeting, homeownership, and job readiness,” according to the grant abstract.
During the five-year grant period, Good Dads plans to enroll more than 1,100 fathers and “create lasting generational charge by improving father-child relationships, reducing family violence, and increasing economic mobility,” the abstract said.
Good Dads is perhaps best-known for its existing program for at-risk fathers, New Pathways for Good Dads. This program, which has served nearly 2,000 fathers in Missouri since 2018, will continue alongside the new Great Communities initiative, says, Dr. Jennifer L. Baker, PsyD., Good Dads founder and director.
In the grant narrative, Baker called the new initiative “a natural and necessary extension” of the New Pathways program, which is funded primarily via Missouri’s TANF funding. This “extension” makes sense for the nonprofit, she said, because although many of the dads who participated in and graduated from New Pathways make remarkable progress during their time in the program, they also report the need for further support, including:
- Relationship education: Finding a good partner, conflict-resolution skills, healthy decision-making, how to improve co-parenting skills, etc.
- Financial literacy and career advancement: Help with budgeting, buying a car, pursuing home ownership, money management, resume-building, etc.
- Parenting workshops for couples: New Pathways graduates have gained skills in parenting but would benefit from learning to parent well with a partner or co-parent.
Finally, the new initiative will allow any father (not just at-risk fathers who meet state income guidelines) to access the tools and resources necessary to achieve and maintain a healthy healthy relationship, practice responsible parenting and achieve economic stability.
By widening its horizons and expanding its resources to offer additional avenues for building healthy communities, Good Dads can continue to fulfill its mission to “help kids and communities one dad at a time.”
Look forward to more details about the brand-new program from the Good Dads Headquarters very soon.
