The Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaborative Council (HFTCCC) brings together community leaders to create and sustain a District-wide network that empowers families and communities to improve their quality of life.

We are a 501(c) (3), organization that provides leadership, advocacy, resource development, technical assistance, and training to the six Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaboratives. The six Collaboratives are independent nonprofit organizations that operate across the District of Columbia in communities facing intergenerational economic, social and safety challenges. Since the mid 1990s, the Collaboratives supported by the Collaborative Council, have joined with community members – residents and institutions alike – to re-weave the social fabric. Each community solution is tailored to the needs of the community with Collaboratives and their partners offering a range of unique services and supports to children and families.

Collaborative Council Kicks Off Training
for FEED Program Implementation

Collaborative fatherhood specialists, case managers, social workers and supervisors participated in a series of training sessions geared toward implementing the FEED program under the new Collaborative Council grant. Topics included “Engaging Fathers,” “Navigating Child Support,” and “Building Healthy Marriages.” Services under the new grant will officially begin February 1, 2012.

The “Engaging Fathers” workshop examined many of the systemic and personal barriers that adversely affect services to fathers. In his discussion on the legal and ethical responsibilities of social workers, Chester Marshall identified the challenges of including fathers in the case management process. His evidence-based presentation drew quick responses from practitioners who perceived the inclusion of fathers as a major challenge to the case goals with families. Some believed that finding an absent father is useless because most cases are in the mother’s name, and the father is rarely the custodial parent. Others had a more neutral opinion about engaging fathers, saying that there is no real difference between fathers or mothers as it relates to providing services. Some took exception, noting that fathers perceive differently than mothers, and social workers should be aware of how to professionally engage a father differently from a mother. After a successful day of personal and professional disclosure, everyone generally agreed that greater attention must be given to establishing father-friendly environments within institutions where families are served for the benefit of children who need the involvement of their dads.

Child Support 101 provided an overview of the Child Support Services Division within the Office of the Attorney General. Once called Child Support Enforcement, it now reflects in its name the agency’s comprehensive services to fathers. Workshop facilitator Angelisa Young, outreach specialist, meticulously outlined and defined the numerous legal and technical terms essential to establishing paternity of a child support case. Voluntary acknowledgement of paternity, DNA testing, parentage, case types, intake, processing, and enforcement were some of the terms she said a specialist needs to know when helping fathers who have cases in the system.

Young presented the Fresh Start and the Fathering Court as resources for fathers who need extra help stabilizing their lives. She said that Fresh Start can dismiss a substantial portion of a non-custodial parent’s arrearages when he or she makes consecutive payments in a timely manner. Modifications for hardship cases fathers' drivers licenses, revoked through non-payment, can also be returned through this program. The DC Fathering Court started in 2006 and provides intensive job training, counseling, employment placement, and judicial access for fathers. The goal is to help parents get back on track through education, counseling, and new found attitude of putting the needs of children first.

Nisa Mohammed, executive director of Wedded Bliss, facilitated a four-hour training on the need for healthy marriages in the African American community and the specific benefit to children and their environment. Wedded Bliss is a nonprofit partner to the Collaborative Council providing training to fathers who are serious about a commitment to their partners. The organization works with teens, singles, and couples on the awareness of marital benefits, communication skills, conflict management, and stability, and is known for its work around the country and for its contribution to CNN’s documentary “Black in America.”

Mohammed notes that when parents are involved in happy marriages, children benefit mentally and emotionally and are less likely to grow up poor and socially detached. The reality is that most African-Americans are less likely to marry and more likely to divorce. The key indicators for marriage failure are age, poverty and education levels. According to the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, the divorce rate among black couples is significantly higher than that of white or Hispanic couples.

Notably, this is a real issue for African American families as well as the fathers who will participate in the FEED program. Direct services and referrals to skilled partners will exemplify the best practices for changes in the families, children, and communities the Collaborative serve.

To read more, visit our Collaborative Connection