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.
He is right but I am fairly certain the bill will not address the elephant in the room which is irresponsible women who have no interest in their being a father in the picture and consider him only as a sperm donor and a court ordered ATM. These women often have children by several men.
and this is not a new societal problem.
I friend of mine, dead now, told a story of his policing days 40 years ago and on his days off was asked to accompany female social service workers who had to go into rough places in the city to interview welfare recipients - not in uniform, of course.
He told of going into homes in which there would be four, five or more children each with a different father. The mother drew welfare payments for each child plus sued the fathers and received payments for non-support.
In other words, the woman made a pretty good business out of having children.
Here it is - these do not have a racial break-down:
“(CNSNews.com) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that there were 3,613,647 births registered in the United States in 2020 and that 1,464,121 of these—or 40.5 percent—were to unmarried mothers.
“The percentage of all births to unmarried women was 40.5% in 2020,” said the CDC’s “Births: Final Data for 2020” report.
The CDC also reported that 42.0% percent of births in the United States in 2020 were covered by government-funded Medicaid.”
I never will either. Your kids are smart and ahead of the curve.
Good point. Reagan brought it up already in A Time for Choosing.
So FLA is getting rid of all forms of welfare and bringing back soup lines?
...and YOU get to support them!
My maiden aunt who had been a state legislator and was very liberal (for the time) had a black lady servant (who by the way received equal inheritances with my aunt’s nieces) who told her support for unwed mothers was destroying marriage in her community. It gave her pause, but didn’t change my aunt’s mind. My parents were divorced, but my father came out on weekends (except during the war), took up walking and shooting and read to us in the evenings. Books that interested him I think; I remember lots of Dickens and “Windsor Castle” by Ainsworth that my brother and I ,as preteens, enjoyed.
Since fixing taxes isn’t an option now, I’ll work within existing stuff.
Make the child tax credit, and other similar credits/deductions, as a tiered item. Single filers, are only eligible for up to 40% of the total credit. Joint filing is required to receive the full thing.
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