Fatherhood Task Force of South Florida

The Fatherhood Reading Squad & Mentoring Program invites fathers and male role models into M-DCPS to network around educational needs of children and to learn effective ways of reading and talking to children. The FTF published an inspiring book, Neighborhood Dads following fathers in schools who volunteer to increase literacy opportunities for all children. The book is used as a training tool for organizations and schools interested in providing the program as a resource for fathers.

Fathers in Education Day and Fathers in Action & Advocacy Week, a collaboration between the Fatherhood Task Force and Miami Dade County Public Schools invites fathers and male role models into schools to read and share activities with school children as well as attend parenting workshops to learn parenting skills, how to stay healthy and build family financial security. Paternal Health Care & Education Conferences focus on fathers' health and involvement affecting birth outcomes and growing children. These collaborative initiatives resulted in the FTF Fatherhood Magazine encouraging future, expectant and new fathers to get health check-ups when planning a pregnancy and the service community to take action in serving them. The Best Practices of Fatherhood workshop is being offered to high school students.

We want to eliminate father absence as a strong indicator of poverty and children's academic and social difficulties. We aim for each child when possible to know the love, security and commitment from their father or a significant male role model and to continue to experience the support from other male role models. We aim to reduce the number of children who grow up fatherless - to reduce the number of children who are in the foster care program waiting for a family to love them unconditionally and indefinitely and to reduce the number of fathers imprisoned through education about fatherhood. We aim for every boy/man to know how important their health and involvement is to birth outcomes and the life of a growing child

In order to do this we ask everyone to raise boys to realize how important a positive male role model is in children's lives as they grow to be a man and perhaps choose to become a father themselves. In order to do this we need society, organizations, legislators to step up, support and educate young men on the best practices of being a father to start in middle school through high school.