Photo of New York City Dads Meetup Group
All across the country, dads are joining together to seek guidance and learn from each other, all with the goal of becoming better fathers. It’s such a wonderful thing to see! One group that has made impressive strides is 4 Your Child, a project of the University of Kentucky’s School of Social Work. Since the program started in 2015, it has helped 900 dads to become better fathers.
Professor Armon Perry and his team are the power houses behind the project. According to the project summary on the website, research “has concluded that factors such as fathers’ parenting skills, co-parenting relationship quality, and socio-economic status all impact fathers’ ability to contribute to their children’s growth and development.” The project aims at providing non-custodial fathers with “a comprehensive, solution-oriented program featuring group-based parent education and individualized case management to help them achieve financial independence, increase their parenting skills, and develop a co-parenting alliance.”
According to a recent article in usnews.com about the project, dads receive parenting-related classes over a period of 28 weeks through workshops that help them develop better skills in communication and conflict resolution. After completing these classes, the men are eligible for 6 months of further assistance from various professionals. The goal is to develop men who will be not only good financial providers for their children, but also have better relationships with both their children and the women who are the mothers of their children.
This program is very impressive and should be a model for others throughout the country. It is funded by a federal grant and similar programs in other states should be able to be funded the same way.
To learn more about 4 Your Child, CLICK HERE.