Many of our personal characteristics, such as where we are born, the color of our eyes, our native language—are due to luck. If we get good parents, this is due to luck, too. When we become parents ourselves, though, we need to rely on our own hard work. Being a parent is the happiest and hardest job I’ve ever had, and I know many people say the same. Any help you can get with that job, whether it is from your own parents, friends, your child’s teachers, parents of your child’s friends, is welcome. As the African proverb goes, it takes a village to raise a child.
Image: How do you say Father? Source: Craftionary
The Federal government wants to be part of that village, and provide parents with any assistance it can give. And with Father’s Day this Sunday, the Government Printing Office wants to highlight these terrific Federal publications and websites to help Dads be all they can be. Whether he’s called Papi, Papa, Pop, Baba, Daddy, Da, Abbu or just plain Dad, celebrate the fathers– and father figures– you know by sharing these resources with them.
National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse
The Government supports fathers in many ways; one of them is through the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse at Fatherhood.gov. Dads can check out this site to find fatherhood programs and resources, connect with mentors, read the latest blog posting on DadTalk, and take the Fatherhood Pledge.
Eleven Federal partners are involved in the Responsible Fatherhood Working Group: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, Veterans Affairs, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The level of Federal investment shows how seriously the President and the Federal Government takes this initiative. Another way to reap the benefits of Federal support of fathers is to read Federal government publications prepared in support of responsible fatherhood.
Promoting Responsible Fatherhood
Promoting Responsible Fatherhood: Every Father Taking Responsibility for His Child’s Intellectual, Emotional, and Financial Well-Being discusses the various programs and initiatives that President Obama has been promoting as part of his Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative, including the Head Start-sponsored Fatherhood First program (see poster on the left).
President Obama believes in the importance of fatherhood, as he said in 2009:
“I came to understand the importance of fatherhood through its absence—both in my life and in the lives of others. I came to understand that the hole a man leaves when he abandons his responsibility to his children is one that no government can fill” (p. 2).
To keep that void from opening, the Federal Government has started the aforementioned initiative, and the president has asked for Federal budget support for the Child Support Enforcement Program and to sustain funding for the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood grants.
This book discusses these and similar Federal Government programs started and/or supported by the Obama Administration, and what the programs have done to help fathers and their families.
Image: President Obama playing with his daughters Sasha and Malia along with then-new (and rambunctious) dog, Bo, on the White House lawn. Source: The White House
This volume is mostly a high-level program summary of interest to policy wonks, public policy workers, social workers, local government officials and students of those disciplines. However, the general public can also glean information about what resources they can get from the Federal Government to assist their families.
At the document’s end, there’s a list of things fathers, individuals, NGOs and places of worship can do to support fatherhood in their own communities as well. The document’s authors try to show how the Federal government stretches out a hand, but it ends on a note of helping oneself, much like the next volume.
Download an electronic copy of Promoting Responsible Fatherhood: Every Father Taking Responsibility for His Child’s Intellectual, Emotional, and Financial Well-Being for FREE from GPO.
Dad’s Play Book: Coaching Kids to Read
Dad’s Play Book: Coaching Kids to Read is geared to get dads to help their kids to read, using case studies and helpful tips. The writers use two of the most important behavior modification tools at their disposal: we all want to be like our peers (hence the case studies) and men love sports (hence the extended coaching metaphor). Twenty dads are profiled on how they are helping their kids learn to read, giving their names, photos, occupations and ages, so they’re more relatable to readers.
The middle pages cover five skills that children need to have mastered to be readers by third grade; everyone who has responsibility for a pre-K through 3rd grade child should be taking some time to study this cheat sheet. Each tip has a paragraph subtitled, How Can a Dad Help? that gives specific suggestions for a dad to improve reading—for example, with fluency. This title is short but sweet; there’s a lot more to know about helping a child learn to read, but this friendly, picture-filled piece is definitely worth the time it takes not only to read it, but to study it and employ in your life as well.
You can either
How can I find these publications: Promoting Responsible Fatherhood: Every Father Taking Responsibility for His Child’s Intellectual, Emotional, and Financial Well-Being and Dad’s Play Book: Coaching Kids to Read?
About the author(s): Our guest blogger is Jennifer K. Davis from GPO’s Library Services & Content Management Division that supports the Federal Depository Libraries Program (FDLP). (Article was adapted by Government Book Talk Editor, Michele Bartram, GPO Promotions & Ecommerce Manager, from an original post on the FDLP Community site blog by Ms. Davis.)
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This handy booklet provides Veterans and their families with the information they need to understand VA’s health care system. It provides eligibility requirements, health benefits as well as VA services for veterans and much more.
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Trudy Hawkins
Government Book Talk 