WHEREAS, A near majority of children, 46%, in single-mother
households are living in poverty; and
WHEREAS, In many Pennsylvania counties, this percentage
exceeds 50%, compared to 7% of children living in poverty in
married-couple households; and
WHEREAS, A major barrier to father involvement across
Pennsylvania's social service systems is the failure to
prioritize father-child involvement; and
WHEREAS, This failure permeates social service systems,
including impacting the administration of justice and public
safety, behavioral health, child support enforcement, early
childhood development, education, employment and training,
housing, supervised independent living and homelessness, parent
education, supportive services and public health, as concluded
by expert panel members assembled by The Strong Families
Commission, Incorporated (the commission), Dads Resource Center
(DRC) at State College, as well as the Pennsylvania Symposium
Organizing Committee (SOC); and
WHEREAS, This failure results in a lack of concentration by
direct service providers on services that strengthen bonds
between mothers and fathers, a fundamental need for healthy
development of children; and
WHEREAS, This failure results in policies and social delivery
practices in systems that disadvantage fathers, including
showing preference or bias in favor of mothers, and results in
staff members not having the resources necessary to engage
fathers, as doing so is not a program or agency priority; and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania took the lead among
the states in enacting programs to promote children's healthcare
by enacting beneficial initiatives, and the Commonwealth now
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