Our vision at Cuyahoga County is to have every father in the county have a productive positive relationship with his children because FATHERS MATTER.
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Initiative Program Accomplishments
I. The Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative Public Awareness Campaign has been responsible for generating over 11,500 calls from fathers to our First Call for Help line seeking services to assist them in becoming better fathers. (Radio ads, billboards and bus ads etc.)
II. The Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative has spent $5,000,000 dollars on programs and services to help fathers in Cuyahoga County.
III. As part of the Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative an audit was conducted of every county department to ensure that fathers are treated fairly when they come to the county for services and included in the process when there are issues involving children.
IV. In June of 2005, the Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative hosted the first ever public sponsored forum created specifically to promote healthy father-child relationships, address the social problems that result from “father absence and strategize as to what we must do, as a community to ensure that every child has a dad in his or her life. Over 2,400 dads and their children attended the two-day event. The second annual Fatherhood Conference in 2006 attracted over 3,000 fathers and their children, the third annual Fatherhood Conference in 2007 attracted over 3,600 fathers and their children, the fourth Fatherhood Conference held in 2008 attracted 3,800 fathers and their children and the 2009 Fatherhood Conference was attended by over 4,000 fathers and their children.
V. Cuyahoga County is the only one of 88 counties in Ohio to have a program of this magnitude addressing the issue of fatherhood.
VI. Some of the Programs sponsored:
- Fathers and Families Together (FAFT) program at the Center for Families and Children
- Rising Tide Program at the Urban League. (Career Readiness and Career Path Counseling, Relationship Workshops, Job Placement)
- Co-Parenting Classes throughout the county for unmarried parents
- Passages Program - Career Planning and Re-entry programs for ex-incarcerated fathers
- Programs for Hispanic fathers through the Nueva Luz community agency
- Special Event grants through the Neighborhood Centers Association and the Neighborhood Collaborative agencies
- Health Education Seminars and Health Fairs through South Pointe, Hospital, Huron Hospital and the Minority Men’s Health Center at the Cleveland Clinic
- A help desk collaboration between the Custody Mediation/Visitation Department and the Child Support department
- A Supervised Visitation Program at the Domestic Violence Center
- Fathers and Sons and Fathers and Daughters Weekend Retreats
- Programs for first time and teen fathers. (Tot Line Tip Sheets for Fathers of Small Children, First Time Father Visits, Expectant Father Programming)
- Public Awareness Program
- Prevention of Premature Fatherhood Program
Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative
310 W. Lakeside Avenue, Suite 500
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
216.348.3967
Fax: 216.443.7276