The Fatherhood Initiative is a joint effort of the Department of Human Resources (DHR) Child Support Enforcement and Family Assistance programs. The Fatherhood Initiative was developed to further the welfare reform goal of strengthening families, to enhance child support collections, and to address other needs of children who are growing up without the involvement of natural fathers in their lives. Fatherhood resources have been created in Alabama through funding and technical assistance from the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

In August 2002, the Department of Human Resources was instrumental in the formation of the Alabama Fatherhood Initiative (AFI). The AFI is a statewide network of public, private, non-profit and faith-based organizations working to enhance the ability of non-custodial fathers to support their children and to have greater and more constructive involvement in the lives of their children. The mission of the Alabama Fatherhood Initiative is to help non-custodial to achieve these goals by providing counseling, education, training and employment opportunities. The AFI recognizes and promotes the importance of fathers in the upbringing of children.

Through the AFI network of partners, DHR organized the AFI Short-term Skills Training Pilot Program. This is a short-term skills training program for non-custodial parents who are unable to meet child support obligations due to underemployment or unemployment. Commitments were obtained from the Department of Postsecondary Education to develop short-term skills training courses for non-custodial parents on Alabama's community college campuses and from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) to help fund the short-term skills training courses. DHR contracts with ADECA to pay for some of the skills training opportunities. These programs are offered at Gadsden State Community College, Gadsden State Community College - Ayers Campus, and orthwest Shoals Community College. Six other institutions are in various stages of implementing short-term training.

DHR's TANF funds provide financial resources to the Children's Trust Fund (CTF) to award seed grants to over 30 fatherhood programs across the state. These programs offer a myriad of services to non-custodial parents including parenting classes, fatherhood responsibility training, and other father involvement services. DHR staff monitor these programs in cooperation with CTF.

The Department of Human Resources funds several fatherhood prevention programs through the Alabama Department of Public Health, Unwed Pregnancy Prevention Program. Young males and females and first-time fathers receive fatherhood responsibility training and other parenting services to reduce the chances of children being born without fathers in their lives or losing fathers due to divorce.

© 2003