This page contains Congressional resolutions. Resolutions indicate the topics that legislators care about, but cannot legislate about.

01-NGA6 on Aug 15, 2001

The nation’s Governors recognize that governments at all levels can and should take immediate action including:
• providing additional education and information about the importance of fathers participating in raising their children;
• establishing a nongovernmental national clearinghouse to collect and disseminate information regarding responsible fatherhood;
• expanding efforts to prevent unintended and out-of-wedlock teen pregnancies;
• providing children with appropriate adult male role models, such as mentors, in the absence of a caring father;
• ensuring that young men are given opportunities to feel successful and valued, which will lead to the development of self-confidence and preparation for fatherhood;
• encouraging the involvement of the community, including the religious community, civic community, business community, and mentors in addressing the importance of father involvement;
• developing strategies that include both parents in activities focused on their children, such as training service providers and educators to include both parents in their service delivery;
• working with private employers and the education community to provide education and job training opportunities to unemployed, underemployed, and low-skilled fathers; and
• paternity establishment and child support enforcement efforts.

Any new federal funding stream designated for fatherhood initiatives should:
• support programs in states, at the discretion of each Governor, that encourage appropriate involvement of both parents in the life of a child, with priority given to programs that specifically address the issue of fatherhood;
• be coordinated with existing fatherhood programs, as well as with other federal funds that can be used for fatherhood initiatives, such as TANF; and
• not be funded at the expense of another vital human service program.

• Topic: Families & Children
• Headline: Federal funds & state involvement in fatherhood initiatives
  
  
• Key for participation codes:
• Sponsorships: p=sponsored; o=co-sponsored; s=signed
• Memberships: c=chair; m=member; e=endorsed; f=profiled; s=scored
• Resolutions: i=introduced; w=wrote; a=adopted
• Cases: w=wrote; j=joined; d=dissented; c=concurred
• Surveys: '+' supports; '-' opposes.