Obama Launches Fatherhood Initiatives

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: White House ,; Obama Administration

(Credit: AP)

Striking a personal note the day after Father's Day, President Obama today announced a set of new proposals to help fathers become more engaged in their children's lives.

The White House is launching a nationwide fatherhood and mentoring initiative, Mr. Obama said, in a call to action with states, cities and nongovernment organizations to raise awareness about responsible fatherhood.

Speaking at an arts and recreation campus in Washington, Mr. Obama also proposed a Fatherhood, Marriage and Families Innovation Fund, which would provide funding for community projects that assist fathers. Those programs could include job training, parenting skills classes and domestic violence prevention.

He also outlined a transitional jobs initiative for men leaving prison so they can meet their child support obligations, as well as a plan for special re-entry courts for fathers leaving prison.

Mr. Obama said there are "too many fathers missing from too many homes," and that "when fathers abandon their responsibilities, there's harm done."

He added, "I say this as someone who grew up without a father in my own life."

While government can't force fathers to be present in their children's lives, Mr. Obama said, it can send a message that there's no excuse for failing to meet parental obligations.

He spoke fondly of his own experiences of a father, saying, "The most challenging, most fulfilling, most important job I will have in my time on this earth is to be Sasha's and Malia's dad."

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by ECPearson June 22, 2010 12:08 PM EDT: While it sound like an innovative program to promote better fathering, it is not connected to either research or theory.

A father who lacks a good relationship with the mother is at risk to be a nonresponsible father, especially if he does not reside with the child, as is a father who lacks 'adequate employment and income'.

In other words, nothing works without the jobs that were first promised by Obama over a year ago.; Reply to this comment


by ECPearson June 22, 2010 12:04 PM EDT: What a sick joke having Obama promoting responsible fatherhood? Remember the NY Sun reported that Obama?s campaign has admitted Obama voted against giving medical care to babies born alive after an abortion attempt, a fact that the campaign originally dismissed as a ?smear.? The reality behind the Obama rhetoric is that he ?worked against efforts? to ban the gruesome practice of leaving babies who survived failed abortions to die.; Reply to this comment

by dadirt June 21, 2010 4:40 PM EDT

That is right up there with his effort to clean up the gulf. Just words no supbstance. Maybe he can tax fathers and mothers that have kids out of wedlock! Taxes solve everything! Another generation is going down the tubes because the governement is sustaining a way of life that is unproductive and yields criminals, crime and uneducated young adults. And these same people vote for Obama and others like Corine Brown, because they are black, and tell them what they want to here, and perpetuate their way of life.

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by tg809 December 5, 2011 4:54 AM EST: Can everyone just stop please and stick to what the topic is about!:) I, am a divorced working mother of 3! I did not plan on getting a divorce or raising our children by myself. But the worst part of this topic; is the pain that every child goes through as they live each day without that absent parent. So,yes it is a crime and it definitely needs to be punished period! Comments such as stated above are wrong and judgemental,which is one reason why our country is in the shape that its in. Not all single parents are any of the above definitions or stereotypes you lable them in. Racial comments like mentioned above should'nt be mentioned either, and get this;I'm white! What is wrong with people? Where is your heart? Stick to the topic,please! Obama this,Obama that? Just because he is not white? My God,help our world! Amen...! This topic is not about anything other than innocent children growing up without a father, so please stop all these other comments! Where is the heart at? WWJD!

by nece_weathers June 21, 2010 1:50 PM EDT

Ok, I apologize for my former comment. It does not take a lot of intellect to know that fathers from every walk of society are not the fathers they should be. This is whether a child in born in the ghetto or the suburbs.

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by Palin_for_Presidentess June 21, 2010 2:01 PM EDT: Yeah, apology not accepted, racist.


by tg809 December 5, 2011 5:17 AM EST: OMG! The topic above is in no way about a persons race! Which is apparently your topic!:) God made us all,some smart with a heart,some dumb without both! Meaning/definitions-everyone is born with a heart and a brain but sadly;their are many that choose not to use them wisely! Topic above is not about race,its about children growing up without a father which is in fact very painful for them! I just hope & pray for all the children in this world period growing up this way to have their prayers answered. I pray for our world period, to honestly use their heart period before making a judgement or decision. Everything has consequences in life,death,& after!:) Follow your heart folks & always pray first! WWJD

by Joutue June 21, 2010 1:47 PM EDT

BY Joutue June21,2010 12:45 pm

Does he spend time with his kids, when he's playing basket ball with
his friends, or golf with someone. He acts like a kid himself at times.

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by Palin_for_Presidentess June 21, 2010 2:02 PM EDT: Thanks, racist talibagger guy.


by FauxNews June 21, 2010 1:29 PM EDT: Fathers are missing from their child's lives because they are working 2 jobs to pay taxes.; Reply to this comment


by johneustor June 21, 2010 1:27 PM EDT: If there was no money, and we did not charge each other to live, there would be no problem with fathers missing from homes or kids growing up with no parents. Why? Because the majority of them leave because THEY CAN'T AFFORD TO RAISE THEM after they have them. If we didn't charge each other to live as HUMANS and charge PARENTS for having KIDS or making it so EXPENSIVE to have KIDS, then there would be NO PROBLEMS WITH HAVING THEM and you would watch as these PROBLEMS GO AWAY IMMEDIATELY. How do I know this? Because my father left when I was 5 for these exact reasons and while growing up I was very resentful towards him for it, I now understand very well WHY HE DID IT.

So what does this society do? Instead of helping these fathers and mothers that can't affords them, the court system and law makers fine and imprison them, making it even harder on the child and remaining parent. Or they turn to a life of crime to pay for child support. And still the government, law makers and courts profit via fines and prison terms. So instead of what you suggest, why not MAKE IT A FREE EXISTENCE SO THESE PROBLEMS GO AWAY ONCE AND FOR ALL!! Your band-aid solutions of providing "programs designed to improve job training, prevent domestic violence, and help struggling fathers make child support payments" will NOT WORK. They have NEVER worked and will just cause more problems when the fathers and mothers do not attend and get slapped with a prison term of fines, which is ALWAYS the END RESULT of your "band-aid" solutions!!

The ONLY TRUE SOLUTION that will WORK COMPLETELY is eliminating money and need to charge each other to live. Make human rights the number one priority and make this existence a free one. Let us each work 2 hours a day to make one good product we can all share and make it free to live. Eliminate the need to profit and compete with each other. Eliminate the need to waste our existence making, spending, chasing after and protecting money so we can live. There would be no reason for wars, murders, crime, child abuse, child labor, etc. PERIOD.

Yeah I know. I am repeating myself. Same thing over and over every day. But this is the ONLY solution that will SOLVE these problems completely and FOREVER. This is the only solution that will eliminate EVERY PROBLEM THAT WE FACE AS A CIVILIZATION!! So why should I try to re-word the SAME SOLUTION? Or should I just go back to my daily grind of trying to make enough money to SURVIVE and just forget about trying to solve the WORLDS PROBLEMS? Because it seems that our SOCIETY (or at least those that control our fate in it) don't want these problems to go away. They don't want a true solution to all of these problems. They want to continue profiting from our misery, and confronted with loosing their profits and control over our society, would rather see you all suffer through this misery that we call a CIVILIZATION BASED ON PROFIT AND GREED, then fix it.

If there was no money, and we did not charge each other to live, there would be no need for\reason to have an abortion. If the child was given a free existence and nurtured from birth to death, by the society it is spit into to, then the burden of having a child and paying for it to be able to live would be removed. Removing most of the reasons why women have abortions-->because they can't afford to have\take care of the child.

If there was no money, and we did not charge each other to live, we would have no need for courts, police, lawyers and insurance companies, banks, stock markets....no one suing anyone for anything..if everything is free....no egos...no one living any better then anyone else...

If there was no money, and we did not charge each other to live, there would be no rape.. How would rape be eliminated by eliminating money?

Without having the burden of teaching your children how to make, spend, protect and eventually die for, money, we are freed to teach them how to live...you don't want your children raping each other, yet you teach them to do so when it comes to money....profiting from another human being is basically killing them. When you profit (make money) from another human being, that money, which they need to live on, is taken away. So in theory, you are killing them by profiting from them. You remove their ability to continue their life after the money runs out...so you make a dollar, they loose a dollar...if they needed that dollar to live that extra day (15 minutes, whatever), you have taken it away...we profit from each other to kill each other....society\life takes away a human beings life by charging them for it...and slowly killing them by doing so..

This is what you teach your children to do...profit...compete...survival of the fittest...get what's theirs...so why would they not rape each other any other way...you tell them to share in the sandbox, then you put guns in their hands and tell them to go fight for you...for your country...s; Reply to this comment