News Archive

Driving away dads

The system discourages poor African-American men from becoming involved parents

By Joseph T. Jones Jr.

My life is a tale of two boys with two very different dads.

When my first son, Trey, was born 30 years ago, I was what they now call a "baby daddy" — a young, unmarried high school dropout with a bad drug habit and a rap sheet. I never considered marrying my son's mother. In fact, I just disappeared from her life after the baby was born. As a result, Trey grew up feeling abandoned and hostile.

When my second son, Corey, came along 15 years later, I was not the same man who fathered Trey. By then, I was happily married with a college degree and a promising future. Corey is my whole life. He just finished his freshman year in college studying engineering.

I am sharing this painful, personal story so that middle-class Americans might better understand why so many poor, young, African-American men drop out of high school, father children out of wedlock and then wind up in prison. The answer: Many of them were reared, like my first son, by a single mother on public assistance and missed the essential, nurturing presence of a full-time father.

Claim It!

For Yourself, Your Family, and Your Community

This Thursday is an important day for low-income families and urban communities across America. April 15^th is the deadline to both file 2009 tax returns and submit the 2010 Census forms. Be sure that your “work pays” by claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit and that your community receives the resources it needs by completing the 2010 Census.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit designed to help alleviate the tax burden for low-income working Americans. Working families that qualify for the EITC can earn a cash refund of up to $5,657 depending on their marital status and number of dependent children. The table below describes the maximum cash refund you may be eligible for based on certain qualification:

Not Just Another Murder

On the morning of February 1, 2010 John Burnell England Jr., a recent graduate of the Center for Urban Families (CFUF)’ STRIVE workforce development program was fatally shot before arriving at CFUF for job services. Trainers from CFUF’s STRIVE program describe him as a man of quiet and humble character who worked hard everyday with a focus on changing his life for the better. With the help of the STRIVE program, Mr. England had recently secured employment at the Baltimore Convention Center. He will be remembered as a positive influence who shared his strength and infectious smile with his STRIVE classmates and others around him.

The loss of Mr. England is a tragedy that has spread pain throughout his family and the CFUF community. As an organization that is devoted to helping fathers connect with their children and families, CFUF views Mr. England’s death as particularly tragic for his young son.

Join the Center for Urban Families (CFUF) July 6 & 7, 2010 in Orlando, Florida at the 14th Annual SMART Marriages Conference!! Joe Jones, James Worthy & Cassandra Codes-Johnson will be certifying facilitators on the Centers' newly developed and field-tested Blueprint curriculum. Become certified to teach a healthy relationship/marriage program that will provide resources to assist low-income couples...

More Ex-Cons on the Streets, Fewer Jobs

States Release More Inmates to Save Money Amid the Worst Employment Climate in Years; One Man Sends Out 500 Résumés

BALTIMORE—Out of prison after serving 7 1/2 years for drug-dealing and armed robbery, Cedric Petteway is struggling to find a job in the worst economy in decades.

The 32-year-old father of two says he has submitted more than 500 resumés for entry-level jobs in the past seven months, to no avail.

"There are times when I think about going back to selling narcotics," says Mr. Petteway, who estimates he used to earn more than $40,000 a month running a cocaine-dealing operation in West Baltimore. "It's going to take a lot of determination, but I can't resort back to that."

Cash-strapped states from California to Maryland are releasing thousands of prisoners as they seek to trim ballooning prison budgets. But the same squeeze compelling them to free more inmates makes it tougher for those ex-convicts to start a new life, and is fueling a debate about how best to prevent them from returning to crime.

"Even in the best of times some of these prisoners don't do well when they get out," says David Pate, a social-work professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "Now they have even greater challenges to face."

How the Federal Government Intends to Support Fathers and Families in the New Budget

In the President’s budget request for fiscal year 2011 the Obama Administration has proposed a significant amount of new federal funding to support responsible fatherhood and family strengthening initiatives. The proposed Fatherhood, Marriage, and Families Innovation Fund would replace the current Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Grant program with a $500 million fund that would award three-year competitive grants to states to implement both responsible fatherhood initiatives and comprehensive family self-sufficiency initiatives for custodial parents. Funding preference would be awarded to states that include community-based organizations as partners in implementing the grant. If approved by Congress, this funding will mark a stark increase from the $50 million in federal funds that was previously devoted to responsible fatherhood initiatives.

This budget request is a strong indication that the Obama administration remains committed to supporting responsible fatherhood initiatives and underscores the importance of these initiatives as a key part of the government’s efforts to create healthy and stable families across all communities. Researchers, advocates, and practitioners in the responsible fatherhood field, for many years, have been calling for more federal funds to support their work and this proposal answers that call in a tremendous way. In addition to the Fatherhood, Marriage, and Families Innovation Fund, the Presidents’ Budget also request increased funds to support non-custodial parents’ ability to have access to and visit their children.

CFUF Holds Job Creation Forum for White House Report

As a part of its increased policy advocacy efforts the Center for Urban Families participated last month in a White House led initiative to host a community forum on the issue of job creation. We gathered a number of our clients, community members and staff for a very informative discussion about their experiences in the current job market and their ideas for job creation.

CFUF Receives Funds To Launch Green Jobs Corp.

The Center for Urban Families (CFUF) is pleased to announce that it has received funds to help launch the center’s new Green Jobs Corp. The new funding was made available by the Obama Administration through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (The Stimulus Package) and was provided to CFUF as part of a partnership with STRIVE International. STRIVE International is a workforce development agency based in East Harlem, New York and was awarded 4.7million dollars from the Department of Labor to support Green Jobs initiatives, like CFUF’s Green Jobs Corp., at six of its sites across the nation.

The Strive Baltimore Program Teaches Skills for Life

Some of the men who benefited from the Center for Urban Families' Strive Baltimore program helped build its new, North Monroe Street facility. Their story was featured in a November Baltimore Sun article.