Monday, October 1, 2007

Gov. Ritter launches statewide campaign to promote responsible fatherhood

DENVER – October 1, 2007 – Today, Governor Bill Ritter announced the
launch
of the Colorado Department of Human Services' "Be There for Your Kids"
public awareness campaign, which targets Colorado's fathers and is
designed
to promote responsible fatherhood across the State.

The Governor explained that Colorado was the only state and one of two
locations in the country – including Washington D.C.- to be awarded a
five-year, $10 million federal grant with the focus and intent of
improving
paternal relationships and parenting. The first year's grant funding
has now
been appropriated and nearly $1.1 million has been distributed to 36
community and faith-based organizations throughout the State to pay
directly
for services that will impact the lives of Colorado's fathers and their
children. The public awareness campaign includes a new Web site,
coloradodads.com, which is an all-encompassing resource for dads and
families, as well as statewide television advertising and community
outreach.

"Today, nearly 25 million children do not live with their fathers and
more
than one-third of these children will not see their fathers at all
during
the course of a year," explained Governor Ritter. "Research shows that
children who grow up without responsible fathers are significantly more
likely to experience poverty, perform poorly in school and/or engage in
criminal activity. There is no doubt about the importance of fathers
in the
lives of their children."

According to Governor Ritter, the services and programs offered under
the
grant target fathers of children who are at risk of negative outcomes
due to
limited father involvement and/or limited economic support. These
include
dads who are low-income, have children with disabilities, are
incarcerated
as well as teenage fathers, single custodial fathers and non-residential
fathers.

"Fatherhood programs across the state give dads a voice," explained Sam
Rascon, former participant in Grand Junction's Hilltop Community
Resource
Center's young dads program and current director of the program. "The
program helped me process my thoughts and understand the issue of
co-parenting as I struggled to attain custody of my son. The skills I
learned changed my life, which is why I'm now working directly with
fathers
who are struggling with many of the issues I once faced."

"Many fathers throughout Colorado are unaware that there are programs
available to help them with the day-to-day and bigger picture
parenting and
family issues that they may face," explained Karen Beye, executive
director
of the Colorado Department of Human Services which is spearheading the
Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. "That's why this public
awareness campaign is vital in getting the word out about programs
available
for fathers and families."

"At the end of the day, our future is only as strong as our
children," said
Governor Ritter. "Ultimately, the goal of this initiative is to
strengthen
Colorado's families by providing dads and families with the tools
needed to
BE THERE for our kids"