Jon Morris Works to Strengthen Families-Martinsville
January 31, 2011
Jon Morris Executive Director of the Step, Inc. (Support to Eliminate Poverty) has written a book, Road to Fatherhood and conducted seminars on Promoting and Strengthening Families.
Source: Martinsville Bulletin
Sunday, January 30, 2011
By HOLLY KOZELSKY - Bulletin Accent Editor
To help men be good fathers, agencies need to take a realistic approach and give consistent follow-through, said Jon Morris. Morris, the executive director of Support to Eliminate Poverty (STEP) in Rocky Mount and Patrick County, addressed a group of about 20 at the seminar “Promoting and Strengthening Families� Friday at New College Institute.
The seminar was one of a series of workshops sponsored by For the Children Partners in Prevention and coordinated by Patricia Carter. It also is part of a move by the Virginia Department of Social Services to promote responsible fatherhood, Carter said.
Morris has helped fathers for more than 10 years, in his current role and previously as the executive director of Total Action Against Poverty (TAP) in Roanoke. With TAP, he oversaw Fathers at Work, a national demonstration project funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Fathers at Work is operated in six locations across the country. Morris also is the author of “Road to Fatherhood.�
Morris gave an outline of factors that make programs that support fathers successful. The participants, including representatives from the Department of Social Services, philanthropic organizations, schools and churches, then speculated about potential fatherhood programs that could help the local area.
The recipients discussed in the seminar were single, non-custodial fathers who had low incomes. The goal of the programs talked about would be to help those disenfranchised fathers be responsible and interactive with their families.
Care from and interaction with their fathers is important to children, Morris said: “Data shows that children with both parents do better.� Additionally, “the number one predictor of poverty is fatherlessness,� he added.
Teenage fathers are the most vulnerable, he said. They are more likely to have problems with alcohol, drugs and delinquency. “The number one key is creating relationships with them,� he added.
Morris talked about several components of a solid father-support program:
• Have staff that are competent and sympathetic. The staff must be role models. Though most of the staff should be men, there should be some women on staff.
• Provide support to help men navigate through “the system:� legal services, child support, employment, transportation and emergencies.
• Employment is an important component of fatherhood, Morris said.
“Men need to work. Men need to feel like they’re supporting their family,� he said. He added that studies show that the benefits go beyond the financial: “When guys are not working, they will actually stay away from their children because they will feel like less of a man.�
Many men need basic assistance to help them hold down a job, he said. They need to learn how to handle minor frustrations that make them feel disrespected and “ready to fight and willing to lose their job.�
• Have a support group, to provide long-term support and interaction that will “change mindsets� instead of merely giving quick fixes to isolated situations. Men in Fathers at Work were required to attend at least 12 of 15 group meetings. Graduates of the program became credible and effective facilitators of future programs.
• Involve the fathers in how the program is handled. Ask them what they want. Hear their concerns and let them evaluate the program.
• A challenge of getting a program going is to get fathers interested. “Go where the fathers are. … If you connect, fathers will sell the program,� Morris said. He suggested using the media and creating a newsletter and website.
Morris warned of potential barriers to fathers’ involvement with a program: Many of of the targeted fathers don’t trust service providers. It’s hard for a man with a scattered job history, or especially a felony conviction, to get a job, he added.
Statistics from Roanoke’s Fathers at Work over a three-year period include: 296 participants; 75 graduates; $360,000 in paid child support per year; 170 jobs obtained; nine marriages; and 10 cases of custody obtained.
The program participants were 70 percent ex-offenders; 50 percent who never had worked full-time; 53 percent who “job-hopped like crazy;� 79 percent who had a yearly income of less than $5,000; and 42 percent who had no high school diploma or GED.
After a break for lunch, the participants talked about how to create a local program for fathers.
“There needs to be another meeting with all the key players who need to get involved with this,� said April Haynes, Executive Director of Martinsville Area Community Foundation. “We fund things like this. I would love to see� an application for funding for a fatherhood program supported by “five or six agencies. Then it could work its way up� for state and federal funding.
“We have one of the highest rates of unemployment, teen pregnancies — anything in the state of Virginia,� said Phyllis Page, chairman of For the Children and co-chair of Westside Community Center. The attendees laughed robustly at that comment, as she continued by adding, “that qualifies the area for all sorts of� grant money and funding assistance.
The group made plans to meet again next month to begin planning a fatherhood program. At that meeting, they will define the target population and area, identify key personnel needed and determine program goals and expected outcomes.
