Good reasons why non-members of Fathers and Families Coalition of America should become members. Whether you are interested in strengthening your network, gaining professional development and training opportunities, advocate for change or being a part of a vision to improve outcomes for children, strengthen families, and building healthy communities than FFCA can be an excellent option for you. In addition to providing one of the best national conferences on strategies to improve the lives of children and healthy relationship by engaging fathers for diverse professionals, parents, and organizations.  Look around, and there are a plethora of organizations (from small local start-ups to national chapters) for you to join but only one with a vision that has led to the partnerships throughout the United States and growing International FFCA Affiliates. 

We invite you to look at some of the diverse U.S. and International leaders who have decided to join and grow with us. We ask you that you join as a member and take advantage of some significant benefits. 

Broaden your knowledge: FFCA offers a national conference, regional symposiums, virtual training,  courses, seminars and lectures for our members and open to the public. Our members receive significantly discounted fees and for our summer virtual training free enrollment. 

Take charge of FFCA Partnerships: Take advantage of resources related to social responsibility, justice, and public policy initiatives. FFCA continuously hosts and shares information on emerging policies that often lead towards new funding opportunities. Staying informed on the latest industry innovations, research, and trends in policy and research efforts will only help you in the long run and will put you one step ahead of the competition!

Enhance your network: We all know that networking is vital for those working on local, regional, national and international initiatives that in the growing of the FFCA community provides new connections! Making connections is critical, and joining FFCA give countless opportunities to connect on a local and sometimes even global level. For most people, creating professional relationships is essential, and entering a group allows you to have a sense of support and help one another.

DO NOT MISS OUT!CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS ACCEPTED - 30 SEPTEMBER 201820th Annual Families & Fathers National Conference 2019March 4th - 7th, 2019 New Location!Hilton Los Angeles Airport5711 W Century Blvd,Los Angeles, CA 90045 Discounted Room Rates Reduced to $155.00 per nightPre-Early Conference RegistrationMember $285Non-member $345

VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM

APPLY MINDFULNESS FOR ENGAGING FAMILIES, PARENTS, CHILDREN, AND WORKING WITH FATHERS

MARIA NAPOLI, MSW, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor - Arizona State University

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29th

 

VIRTUAL GLOBAL SYMPOSIUM  OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR A MODEST FEE STARTING AT $39.00 AND A FREE PROGRAM FOR FFCA AFFILIATES & MEMBERS

Fathers and Families Coalition of America hosts a unique series to strengthen the skills of those working with individuals, parents, families, children and building healthy communities.

REGISTRATION HERE

 

 JOIN US FOR ONLINE EXPERIENCE VIDEO CONFERENCE WITH PLAYBACK

SYMPOSIUM LOCATION Your office, home, or a place that you can get away with a good internet connection!

VIRTUAL TRAINING DATES

Wednesday, August 1, 2018, and Wednesday, August 8, 2018

9:00 a.m. to Noon Pacific Standard Time - Playback for on demand is available*

 

 JOIN US FOR ONLINE EXPERIENCE VIDEO CONFERENCE WITH PLAYBACK

 

SYMPOSIUM LOCATION Your office, home, or a place that you can get away with a good internet connection!

 

GROW WITH US  BECOME AN AFFILIATE OR MEMBER

We started as a vision of different organizations coming together to support each other, create useful services for young parents and ultimately into a global resource. The passion integrated with the commitment to help others working daily for families and children to have a better life has been the sustaining influence of Fathers & Families Coalition of America.

 Grow With Us and together let’s support the professional development of others and be champions for healthy families and children. In 2018, we have renewed our Membership component for individuals, parents, veterans, and organizations that will provide significant benefits with FFCA up to 25% discounts on our national conference, regional symposiums, specialty certificate programs, life coach and advanced practitioner credential.

We also have added new partnerships and more coming this summer! Artest Design Group rebranded Fathers and Families Coalition of America and is providing all of the Members of FFCA a 20% discount on all of their services. Artest Design Group owned by David Gutierrez created a new website for our Fatherhood Life Coach Certification Program.  Fathers and Families Coalition of America conference attendees in February 2018 for just attending and opting into our monthly text connect system won a free website that is amazing and this is a website. Artest Design Group also supported a Fathers and Families Coalition of America California-based affiliate with a new site to meet the cutting-edge needs for their mentoring program. FFCA wanted to add unique benefits beyond professional development and training and with Artest Design Group and an active Membership or Affiliate individuals and organizations interest. 

 

 

VIRTUAL - FFCA LIVE ADVANCED PRACTITIONER CREDENTIALJOIN THE JUNE 26 & 27 PHOENIX CLASSJOIN THE JUNE 28 & 29 SAN FRANCISCO CLASS

Fathers and Families Coalition of America will make available what was once excluded to our national conference, regional symposiums and or contracted advanced professional development and agency capacity building events. We are using technology for an ongoing virtual academy to help those who cannot travel to take our Fatherhood Practitioner Credential. In July, we will offer on demand for those who register for these two June opportunities. Continued Education Units are available if participating this June for 11-CEU hours that is included into the overall registration fee of $139.00 early rate and or $159.00 day of the event. Delayed registrations will have manuals shipped to support the continuous quality improvement training for paraprofessionals and professionals working with children, mothers, fathers and families. 

Register Here https://www.regonline.com/advancedpractitionercredentialvirtual 

PRACTITIONER CREDENTIAL SYLLABUS 

20th Annual National Conference Planning Session Following  

Open Congressional Policy Brief on Family First - New Fatherhood and Foster-Care Legislation 

JOIN US or VIDEO CONFERENCE  

Friday, July 13, 2018

10:00a.m Los Angeles (PST),11:00 Denver(MST),Noon Chicago (CST), and1:00 p.m. Washington, D.C.,(EST) local times.

 

 

Fathers and Families Coalition of America is approved by the National Association of Social Workers, Arizona Chapter for a total of 11 contact hours for attendees at the Arizona Healthy Families and Fathers Regional Symposium.  FFCA continuously examines our Practitioner Credential with review by approved continuing education providers to ensure the fidelity of the training meets or exceeds the competencies of community-based education, professional development, and capacity building assistance. A glance of our syllabus will give participants a greater understanding of the intended credential impacts to help those who are working with children, parents, families and communities as well as methods to engage fathers in their practices. 

 

Want to reach a broader level professionally working with children, youth, young adults, parents, families, and communities? Want to help improve multiple generations? Want to be an advocate for children through a professional model to empower and embrace why fathers matter? Do you need informed training that will aid in understanding clients, understand yourself and how to work with others when trauma is experienced? How do we help others overcoming and going to another level in personal goals? Ready to be more efficient with clients? 

 JOIN US IN JUNE FOR TWO ONLINE EXPERIENCES

Fathers and Families Coalition of America understands that increasing number of organizations are utilizing virtual training to develop employee skill sets. Many individuals want to attend our national, regional and local training but can't take time for travel. Therefore, we are renewing our successful virtual training strategy.  FFCA will use a new state of art virtual platform with various elements to implement an informative and engaging experience. 

But what are these elements for FFCA's Virtual Credential Training Program?

We have developed a detailed syllabus and research of core content to prepare all participants before you join us in person, virtually and or a new on-demand feature.  It's essential to have a guideline that the training session should follow to ensure that FFCA covers all vital content.

We will start our 20th year providing the best professional development, training for parents and professionals, addressing issues of our communities, nation and internationally. We have been honored to bring some of the most exceptional talents, experts, researchers, proven practices, models of excellence, curriculums and more as well as passionate individuals who seek change and access to possibilities for children, their parents, families, and communities. 

We will meet at the host hotel at the Hilton LAX Hotel (please rsvp in-person attendance)  starting at 9:30 a.m. for a brief continental breakfast and greetings from the President and Chief Executive Officer of Fathers and Families Coalition of America with a unique brief on three (3) national policies and potential for national demonstration and funding of models by the Office of Honorable Danny K. Davis, Member of the United States House of Representatives (IL-07). Fathers and Families  Coalition of America will host Jill Hunter-Williams, Ph.D., Deputy Chief of Staff for the Honorable Congressman Danny K. Davis (IL-07) will join FFCA from the Washington, DC office to brief on three current and pending policies impacting children, parents, families, and communities.

Dr. Hunter-Williams will provide an open session on funding of fatherhood and healthy marriage programs as well as child welfare and criminal justice demonstration programs, read more here

Following this brief by Dr. Hunter-Williams, a discussion will focus on a few confirmed featured speakers for 20th Annual Talk Presenters that include:  LaTasha C. Watts Founder & Executive Director The Purple Project Shaker Heights, Ohio;  Richard R. Ramos  President-CEO, Latino Coalition for Community Leadership, Santa Barbara, California; Dr. Garry A. Mendez, Jr,Founder and CEO, National Trust for the Development of African American Men, New York City, New York; Larry Savala, President and Founder,Hispanic Family Initiative,Houston, Texas Area.

We will share the process for Call for Workshop Proposals and efforts to increase community involvement into the 20th anniversary of a conference that has springboarded training and technical assistance for over 30000 individuals internationally. We hope you are part of the next decade of excellence and help grow with us to bring the best event for all 2019. 

 

Join Fathers and Families Coalition of America, June 8, 2018, for our 20th Annual Families and Fathers National Conference Planning Kick-off featuring an exceptional guest speaker. Jill Hunter-Williams, Ph.D., Deputy Chief of Staff for the Honorable Congressman Danny K. Davis (IL-07) will join FFCA from the Washington, DC office to brief on three current and pending policies impacting children, parents, families, and communities. We are excited to have three options to participate that is far more interactive in comparison to a webinar with a virtual platform to view information, speakers, and attendees or join us by a teleseminar or in person. Dr. Hunter-Williams will discuss the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families House Resolution 5861, which includes a straight reauthorization of the Healthy Marriage and Fatherhood bill. The Honorable Mr. Davis plans to offer an amendment to include his improvements to the Fatherhood grants that Fathers and Families Coalition of America has supported in the past. The only provided changes to the Fatherhood grants themselves and the other portions of the title IV of the Social Security Act to the child support, SNAP or tax pieces because those elements of the bill are not open for consideration. Nevertheless, Congressman Davis wants to emphasize the importance of modernizing and expanding the Fatherhood program. The following are just a few of the provisions of the amendment:

Clarifies that States can provide non-custodial parents the same work supports as custodial parents.Enhances the Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage program by:Ensuring voluntary participation and penalty if state conditions benefit from assistance;Promoting healthy relationships and marriages and focusing funding on low-income non-custodial parents who are ineligible for TANF; and Creating a new grant for partnerships between domestic violence prevention organizations and fatherhood programs for staff training, domestic violence services, and disseminating best practices with the authorization of $25 million

A review of the completed amendment is available for review  during the conference brief on June 8, 2018

Dr. Hunter-Williams will address new and exciting legislation that will create national demonstration projects that tie in the child-welfare/foster-care professional community with criminal justice and fatherhood practitioners.  The critical facets that Congressman Danny K. Davis will champion include blending these fields to develop models that most likely will have to be designed from evidence-based interventions to connect children in the foster-care systems when appropriate to their incarcerated fathers. This Act will include funding to support sustained models of excellence to augment the needs of children in foster care, group homes and other systems of care as placed by state child welfare agencies with their fathers for sustained parent-child direct services, nurturing, and a requirement for technology and in-person father-child activities. The proposal that Dr. Hunter-Williams is genuinely cutting-edge and FFCA looks forward to listening to this pending legislation as an extension from the most recent brief of The Family First Prevention Services Act and other Social Justice and Policy Initiatives.

Join us on Friday, June 8, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. Los Angeles, California, via our interactive video conferencing or by teleseminar as we start with these policy briefs as part of the 20th Annual Families and Fathers National Conference Kick-off Planning Session

 

May 2018 | Jessica Pearson

This research brief reviews some of how federal, state and local initiatives in the U.S. have attempted to ensure that father involvement is reflected in programs and policies dealing with children and families. It begins with a summary of how father involvement issues emerged at the national level and described critical federal funding mechanisms. The brief provides examples of state and local initiatives, most of which focus on providing direct services to fathers in the child support system to increase their employment, child support payments and parent involvement, although a few also aim to create system-level change across multiple public agencies.

Download the full brief at the link below. 

 Download (1.45 MB)  

Fathers and Families Coalition of America was honored to host a brief in May regarding a new and exceptional opportunity for policy to help children and families. The Family First Prevention Services Act was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act on February 9, 2018. This act reforms the federal child welfare financing streams, Title IV-E and Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, to provide services to families who are at risk of entering the child welfare system. The bill aims to prevent children from entering foster care by allowing federal reimbursement for mental health services, substance use treatment, and in-home parenting skill training. It also seeks to improve the well-being of children already in foster by incentivizing states to reduce placement of children in congregate care.

Learn More about the Family First Prevention Services Act Here

The Homeless Children and Youth Act (HCYA) would remove the barriers that too many homeless children and youth face in receiving homeless assistance. There are two introductions by Senate Bill and House Resolution to address the plight of millions of children in America. 

The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on homelessness in America. During this hearing, both representatives and witnesses highlighted the specific need for flexibility in HUD programs to serve homeless families and youth who are often invisible in their communities and face many barriers to receiving homeless assistance.  

Fathers and Families Coalition of America is sharing information provided by First Focus. They are championing awareness of the  Homeless Children and Youth Act (H.R. 1511), which would allow some of the most vulnerable homeless children and youth to be eligible for services needed to support their healthy development. Moreover, H.R. 1511  aligned with bipartisan legislation with the  S.611 - Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2017

Learn more about HCYA from both   S.611 - Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2017 and Homeless Children and Youth Act (H.R. 1511),

Some key points:1.3 million students were identified as homeless by the U.S. Department of Education, which is a 100% increase since 2006. Due to a narrower definition of homelessness, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development numbers show overall homelessness has declined from 2007-2016.Homelessness is both a symptom and cause of trauma for children and families. The experience of homelessness in any form is traumatic for a child.Homeless families with children and unaccompanied youth stay wherever they can and are often forced to move frequently between living situations, which may include motels or living with others temporarily. In many regions, there is no family or youth shelter in a community, shelters are full, or shelter policies exclude them. These situations are often precarious and unsafe but yet are often not recognized as homelessness by HUD.The Homeless Children and Youth Act would change this – it would align HUD homeless assistance eligibility criteria with other child and youth-serving systems, so homeless children and youth don't face barriers to receiving homeless assistance.The Homeless Children and Youth Act would increase the visibility of homeless children and youth by restoring local decision-making so that communities can identify less visible homeless families and youth and work with other systems to connect children and youth with developmentally appropriate services.

 

BY GRETCHEN LIVINGSTON, PEW RESEARCH CENTERAPRIL 25, 2018(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post/Getty Images)To download the entire brief, go here Excerpts:One-in-four parents living with a child in the United States today are unmarried. Driven by declines in marriage overall, as well as increases in births outside of marriage, this marks a dramatic change from a half-century ago, when fewer than one-in-ten parents living with their children were unmarried (7%).At the same time, the profile of unmarried parents has shifted markedly, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.1 Solo mothers – those who are raising at least one child with no spouse or partner in the home – no longer dominate the ranks of unmarried parents as they once did. In 1968, 88% of unmarried parents fell into this category. By 1997 that share had dropped to 68%, and in 2017 the percentage of unmarried parents who were solo mothers declined to 53%. These declines in single mothers have been entirely offset by increases in cohabitating parents: Now 35% of all unmarried parents are living with a partner.2 Meanwhile, the share of unmarried parents who are solo fathers has held steady at 12%.Due primarily to the rising number of cohabiting parents, the share of unmarried parents who are fathers has more than doubled over the past 50 years. Now, 29% of all unmarried parents who reside with their children are fathers, compared with just 12% in 1968.While it's well-established that married parents are typically better off financially than unmarried parents, there are also differences in financial well-being among unmarried parents. For example, a much larger share of solo parents is living in poverty compared with cohabiting parents (27% vs. 16%).3 There are differences in the demographic profiles of each group as well. Cohabiting parents are younger, less educated and less likely to have ever been married than solo parents. At the same time, solo parents have fewer children on average than cohabiting parents and are far more likely to be living with one of their parents (23% vs. 4%)..........  As the number of parents who are unmarried has grown, so has the number of children living with an eligible parent. In 1968, 13% of children – 9 million in all – were living in this type of arrangement, and by 2017, that share had increased to about one-third (32%) of U.S. children, or 24 million. However, the share of children who will ever experience life with an unmarried parent is likely considerably higher, given how fluid U.S. families have become. One estimate suggests that by the time they turn 9, more than 20% of U.S. children born to a married couple and over 50% of those born to a cohabiting couple will have experienced the breakup of their parents, for instance. The declining stability of families is linked both to increases in cohabiting relationships, which tend to be less long-lasting than marriages, as well as long-term increases in divorce. Indeed, half of the solo parents in 2017 (52%) had been married at one time, and the same is true for about one-third of cohabiting parents (35%).

SPECIAL SUMMER SYMPOSIUM FOR FIRST DAY & SEASONED PROFESSIONALS WORKING WITH FAMILIES, CHILDREN, PARENTS, AND COMMUNITIES  

There are so many reasons why you should register today! Of course, some so many talented speakers have given their careers to help develop public policy, fighting for social justice, examining what makes an evidence-based intervention and implementing models. We are committed to taking portions of all registrations to go towards the support of programs serving children that live in group homes/orphanages and lack the "home where their parent(s) or a family member are raising our future in the now."  Yes, there will be a time for exceptional training that Fathers and Families Coalition of America has developed with child and family, social work, psychology, sociology and other fields as experts but the niche of preparing new and advanced professionals working with fathers. 

FFCA has the advantage of providing an online and interactive virtual dynamic opportunity to join this New York Symposium from anywhere in the United States or Internationally. Signing up for this special June 11th & 12th  symposium is easy, and we have made the entire program priced at a very modest registration. The impacts of our credential program offered on June 12th have tremendous results for attendees. This symposium is an expanded version of our  Fatherhood Practitioner Certificate program from 2017 or earlier that a review of our syllabus will provide our commitment for participants' professional development success. 

Register today and while you get the experience to listen to our confirmed experts on Monday, June 11th you will go through a tremendous program on Tuesday, June 12th.  Learn more about this collaborative symposium and register today here!   

 

Fixing Fathers Inc. has just released a new podcast entitled, The David Lee Show. The host of the show is Dr. David Lee Asbery. The show will focus on the needs of fathers and their families. From child support, divorce, separation, custody, relationships, parenting, and education, to planning financially for your child’s future. The David Lee Show provides men with a forum to think, discuss, and resolve some of the issues that they are facing today. Once you’ve had a chance to listen to one of the episodes, we hope that you will consider becoming a subscriber. Here at the David Lee Show, our goal is to educate and empower fathers so that they fully understand that their involvement is crucial to the overall development of their child.

How the DOC and Department of Children and Families  Helped this Father to Be a Father to his daughter, and a Model Citizen

Having a criminal record makes it difficult to find a good job. On this episode of The David Lee Show, owner and operator of Mckay Custom Clean, Blaine Mckay talks about the issues that he faced after being incarcerated. With help from the DOC and DCF, Blaine provides you with his take on how these two agencies got it right! With a baby girl that was born while he was incarcerated, Blaine admits that he would not be where he's at now if he didn't receive support from the New Haven & Bridgeport communities. Blaine has a new lease on life, one that leaders need to duplicate for others.

Fathers and Families Coalition of America's Connecticut based affiliates are actively engaged in helping children and families by Dr. David Lee Asbery and Mr. Bruce Trammell. Learn more about the special podcast program by David here

 

 

 

Fathers and Families Coalition of America's international response to support professional development, organizational capacity building assistance, advocacy and network/affiliate development will bring us to Beijing, China for our sixth international venue.  中国父亲与家庭联盟大会正在筹办 敬请期待 with our China Affiliate from the Schools of Education and Psychology under the leadership of Professor Chi Zhang and Professor Flora Dong at Peking University and founders of ExPsy. These are exceptional researchers and leaders striving to facilitate a national and new coalition. Fathers and Families Coalition of China adopting FFCA's core purposes and through ExPsy adapting to meet the needs of China's diverse families will introduce they're first ever national conference. FFCA leadership is supporting their proposed event at Peking University, June 16th and 17th.