Engaging Fathers in the Inland Empire

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

One of the most consequential social trends of our time is widespread father absence in the lives of children. An absent father increases a child’s risk of experiencing a host of poor outcomes, such as poverty, poor school performance, child abuse and neglect, emotional and behavioral problems, and incarceration. The Inland Empire Father Involvement Coalition (IEFIC), started in 2013, is a group of community-based, County, and faith-based organizations collaborating and pooling resources, services, and expertise to reduce father absenteeism and support father engagement. The mission of the IEFIC is to encourage healthy child development by promoting the involvement, necessity, and value of the role of fathers in the family and community. The vision is that men fully engage as stable, supportive educators and providers, and serve as healthy family role models. We do this by providing: 1) Education opportunities for fathers 2) Support services that are accessible and father-friendly 3) PR/Outreach to develop partnerships and promote positive images of fatherhood through media 4) Evaluation of our program’s outcomes, and identification of best practices for father engagement In 2015, the IEFIC launched its Inaugural Inland Empire Fatherhood Conference to Inspire, Educate and Equip fathers to be actively engaged in their children’s lives.