The Vermont Fatherhood Initiative will host its first statewide conference on Responsible Fathering at the Vermont Statehouse on Tuesday, Nov. 1, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A brochure/registration form can be found at this link; www.vnacares.org/fatherhood.
The conference will feature keynote speaker John Laing. He is a father, businessman, and consultant to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. Welcoming the assembled will be Gov. Peter Shumlin and Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Reiber. The day will include workshops for fathers and those serving fathers and families in Vermont.
The Vermont Fatherhood Initiative is a fledgling group of dedicated volunteers made up of parents, professionals and concerned citizens who believe fathers count and that responsible fathering is an essential part of healthy child development. Organizers say the event is a way to come together to talk about how to strengthen families by uplifting fatherhood.
The body of research documenting the benefits of responsible fathering shows:
• When fathers are positively involved, younger children display increased exploration of the world around them and greater tolerance of stress and frustration.
• Older children display increased academic performance.
• With increased non-custodial father engagement, children in foster care return to kin more often, foster care stays are shorter and fewer, and there are fewer child abuse/neglect allegations.
• Delinquent behaviors lessen proportionate to how much time non-custodial father spends with the youth.
• On the other side, children in fatherless homes are five times more likely to be in poverty, and three times more likely to be incarcerated.
The short term goals of the VFI are to map current services across Vermont, identify best practices and initiate strategies to foster the propagation of more services for fathers that promote greater positive involvement and more responsible fathering.
For more information about the event, contact state Rep. Mike Mrowicki at mmrowicki@leg.state.vt.us.