Responsible Fatherhood and Quality Mentoring Matters

Today, father absence is among the most pervasive social problems challenging American families. An estimated 24 million children (34 percent) live absent their biological father and these youth are more likely to be poor, use drugs, and experience educational, health, emotional and behavioral problems.

While the aforementioned family statistics are formidable, there is hope on the horizon. The presence of a responsible father improves a variety of outcomes for children and serves as a protective factor against problem behaviors including teen drug use, pregnancy, truancy, and criminal activity. Thus, supporting and encouraging fathers to become more present and actively involved in their child’s life offers significant potential to reduce the adverse effects of father absence and to empower individual lives, foster families, and contribute to community well-being.

Similarly, mentoring—the presence of a caring adult offering support, advice, friendship, reinforcement and constructive examples—has proven to be a powerful tool for helping youth reach their full potential. Quality mentoring relationships offer significant potential to reduce the adverse effects of father absence by improving young people’s attitudes toward parents, encouraging students to focus on their education, and helping children face daily challenges. Also, mentoring serves as an important means to promote responsible fatherhood by being present in the lives of those youth where the biological father cannot or should not be present to promote the health and safety of the child and the family.

Together, responsible fatherhood and quality mentoring bring hope to young lives through the power of presence.

Richard A. Lewis is the Program Manager for the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse