Washington, DC—Department of Human Services (DHS) Interim Director Brian Wilbon announced today that the agency’s DC Fatherhood Initiative (DCFI) program has competitively won a $10 million Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Community Access Program grant award from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that will be distributed over a five year period. The District is one of only two jurisdictions in the nation to be awarded the Responsible Fatherhood Program grant, which requires funding activities to promote healthy marriage, responsible parenting, and economic stability.

The DCFI program, which will receive $2 million a year for five years from HHS, has helped low-income fathers in the District overcome barriers to providing emotional and financial support to their children for the past three years. HHS also awarded smaller grants under the fatherhood program to three District nonprofit organizations, the Latin American Youth Center, National Organization of Concerned Black Men, Inc., and Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaborative.

“The US Department of Health and Human Services has sent a clear message that it is impressed with the DC Fatherhood Initiative (DCFI) program,” said Brian Wilbon. “The DCFI has been very successful in helping low-income fathers in the District because it has a strong and extremely committed community-based organization service delivery network that provides critical services that fathers need to improve their lives and relationships with their children. I congratulate the three local nonprofit organizations that were also awarded HHS grants to assist fathers and look forward to working closely with those organizations.”

Since beginning operation in Fiscal Year 2004, the DCFI program, managed by the DHS Office of Grants Management, has assisted nearly 3,000 low-income fathers in the District. Prior to winning the fatherhood grant award from HHS, DHS used $1.3 million in TANF dollars each fiscal year to fund the work of competitively selected community-based organizations in the District which comprise the DCFI program. The community-based organizations assist low-income fathers in acquiring personal development and basic education skills, substance abuse intervention and treatment, positive parenting and peer support skills, and job training and placement, among other lifestyle changes.

“The $2 million annual grant award from HHS will allow the DCFI to serve a larger pool of low-income fathers and a broader range of fathers in need by expanding the number of community-based organizations that will provide programs to assist fathers,” said Joi Yeldell, grants administrator for the DHS Office of Grants Management. “With this additional funding, our goal is to expand the number of fathers served from 1,000 per year to 2,500 per year.”