School Hosts Inaugural Summer Institute on Fatherhood and Healthy Families

August 22, 2012 @ 4:00 am

The inaugural East Regional Fatherhood & Healthy Families Summer Institute was held at the Columbia University School of Social Work on July 16-18, 2012. The special three-day conference focused on fatherhood and families and was sponsored by the Fathers and Families Coalition of America (FFCA), the US Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Children & Families Region II & IV, the New York State Assembly, the East Regional FFCA Affiliate, and the Columbia University School of Social Work. Faculty member, Professor Ronald B. Mincy, Sr., was the keynote speaker.

 
Plenary sessions and workshops addressed:  
  • The role of fathers in child development. 
  • Developing culturally appropriate programs for African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian American fathers and families. 
  • Working with correctional (incarcerated and re-entering fathers), child welfare, child support, and other systems. 
  • Developing effective healthy relationship-marriage service. 
  • Facilitation skills for practitioners. 
  • Evaluating practice and program outcomes and creating a quality assurance plan.
 
The Fatherhood and Families Conference is organized by the FFCA and is dedicated to sharing information that will better communities by strengthening and improving programs serving fathers and families. Conference speakers came from across the nation and were drawn from academia, government service, the private sector, community organizations, and family and fatherhood programs.