Fatherhood Initiative

The OJJDP FY 09 Earmarks Programs further the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Explanatory Statement Regarding H.R. 1105 (Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009), 155 Cong. Rec. H1653 (daily ed. Feb. 23, 2009) (statement by Rep. Obey, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House).

The project purpose is to provide the fatherhood mentoring program that will improve overall life chances for fathers and their juvenile children. The project will serve 200 juvenile fathers in Philadelphia County and will provide a comprehensive program that focuses on crime prevention and intervention, successful fatherhood and family responsibility training, character development, peer-to-peer support, mentoring, work readiness training, employment placement and reduced recidivism. Aims include: 1) Improved employment outcomes for 85% fathers and juveniles as a tactical approach to fostering overall positive life outcomes (i.e., successful prisoner reentry, family reunification, etc.), and positive youth development; 2) Reduced recidivism among ex-offender fathers and their adjudicated children while in the program; 3) 70% of participants will remain engaged in mentoring for 12 months to enhance employment retention and healthy family relationships. Performance management meetings will be held monthly to review work plans, set benchmarks, discuss data and next steps. Case managers/job developers will meet with participants to track weekly/monthly gains against goals established at intake and all participant progress data will be maintained in an electronic database where program components serve as the matrix for data tracking and reporting. NCA/NCF