Posted on 02/16/2022 6:01:45 AM PST by Kaslin
I have the honor of serving as the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and I’ve had a successful and fulfilling career as a gang and homicide prosecutor, but the most important title I will ever hold is being called “dad” by my two sons. It is the privilege of my life to be able to raise them to be kind, courageous and most importantly, to know that I will always love, support and protect them.
When I took the helm of the Florida House back in 2020, the cyclical issues affecting our families and society became increasingly apparent to me. It didn’t take long to find the root cause of so many of the negative outcomes our young boys are faced with today: the lack of a present father.
For some dads, it’s the demands of a heavy work schedule that prevent them from being engaged with their kids. For others, it can be divorce and separation of their family, generational poverty or never having a father figure present in their own lives.
The fact is, one in four children live without a father figure in their home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, an nearly every negative outcome plaguing so many of today’s youth has been linked to their lack of a present and intentional father. Studies conducted by the National Fatherhood Initiative have shown that when children are raised in father-absent homes, they have a four-times greater risk of living in poverty and are twice as likely to drop out of high school. Six in 10 youth suicides come from fatherless homes.
In stark contrast, children who have relationships with their fathers are known to have critical positive outcomes in education, socioeconomic and development and future success. Children who have an involved father are twice as likely to go to college and 80 percent less likely to spend time in jail.
While we know that data cannot tell the entire story, the connections cannot be ignored, and we have a responsibility to stand up, speak out and intercede on behalf of the struggling children who need our leadership. The sooner we can face these facts and have fathers engaged in the lives of their children, the sooner we can close the gap and help our kids reach their full potential.
I first drew the legislature’s attention to the fatherhood crisis during my designation speech back in 2019. This legislative session, I am proud to support a bill moving through the Florida House that makes significant and historic investments, to the tune of nearly $70 million, that addresses the lack of involved fathers and resulting at-risk youth through several initiatives. In partnership with my trusted friend, Representative Thad Altman, HB 7065 establishes programs to address the needs of fathers and awards grants to organizations that help struggling single fathers to become self-sufficient and meet their child support obligations. Also, the legislation, helps at-risk boys through several provisions, including by offering grants to nonprofits involved in mentoring and investing in neighborhood-specific children’s initiatives.
We cannot legislate fatherhood, responsibility or character. We can, however, partner with communities and organizations to support and provide resources to fathers and male role models in our communities to help them step up and meet the needs of children. And we cannot do it alone. It requires community partners and organizations that do the work of encouraging dads to build meaningful relationships with their kids. It takes active mentoring programs, particularly for young boys who don’t have fathers in their lives, to step up and stand in as the strong male role models they need.
What we are striving for in Florida is only the beginning. If we want to see a generation of men rise up to be leaders in their households, giving their children the love, support and stability that they deserve, it will require investments in every state and every community in our nation.
Every child in American deserves a present father, and every state legislature has the power to follow our lead and invest in initiatives that make that dream a real possibility. If we unite in this collective effort, we will be the generation to break the cycle and rebuild the foundation of strong American families.
Families?
Families are white or yellow or even red.
There are no families where it takes a village.
He’s a gushy RINO but he’s right here. As long as it’s a state and not a national initiative.
This law won’t fix the problem. If we want to fix the actual problem, we need to:
a) get rid of “no fault” divorce laws
b) get rid of welfare programs and child support for unwed mothers
As long as our society has these laws that discourage marriage and encourage divorce with significant financial incentives, the problems will only get worse.
Stop making it so easy to ruin men and you’ll see the negative numbers start to improve. A man stands to lose at least a full half of everything he has.
It’s a start but first stop getting married to the wrong people would be advised.
“child support obligation”
I suspect that few families would break apart if states did not impose such obligations on non-custodial parents.
I think debt obligations of married people should be individualized except by mortgage or rental contract.
That would reduce fights over money.
I think I read the other day that about 40% of babies are born to unwed moms nationwide and about 55% in Mississippi.
Uncle Sam is a near ideal marriage partner for many women.
He demands next to nothing and forks over lots of financial help.
If it is a bad idea for a national government to do something it is a bad idea for a state to do the same thing.
More than half, but who’s counting.
Jail women who falsely accuse men of abuse. Jail them. Not ignore that fact that it happened.
Women who are convicted of this give up custody.
Compel women AND men to have to pay the state the money required to keep the kids up. State issues credit cards to both parents. Only purchases allowed by the state would be allowed. Any others would trigger an indictment for embezzlement.
Divorce rate would drop to zero. Zero. Once the paywagon has rolled on, and there is no longer a state incentive for divorce through pillaging men for child support money funneled through it, divorce disappears.
So many economic and political incentives to rape men. Marriage is done. My kids will never marry.
no mention of the fang-toothed feminazis wo have tried to derail fathers and men for 50+ years?
Stop subsidizing unwed mothers and start subsidizing two parent stable families where children are loved, taught discipline and to act responsibly. That would solve some of the crime issues.
The states are the laboratories of liberty.
About 70 percent of African American children are born to unmarried women. This is the case for about half of Hispanic American children and about 30 percent of White American children. America has become a nation of bastards.
And to a government, any "crisis" is a warrant for oppression.
As long as the U.S. financially rewards women for having illegitimate children or financially ruining men at will through divorce then men will continue to resist exposing their livelihoods to the legal system. You can't simultaneously tell men to "Man up" while reaching around and trying to steal their wallets. It doesn't work that way.
The core of the problem is treating fathers as paychecks instead of as parents.
“support and provide resources”
There you go. He’s found the solution!
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