Healthy Fathering Collaborative
sponsored by Community Endeavors Foundation, Inc.
Meeting #40 Notes: June 6, 2008; 9:30 am to 12:00 noon at MetroHealth Medical Center
Present: Michelle Cook (CWRU Nursing Student), Zoryanva Lasiychuk (CWRU Nursing Student), Christine Spikes (Bellflower), Frederick Knuckles (University Settlement), Charmaine Pope (Strong Start), Jerry Rugley (Strong Start), Lawrence L. Sharp III (SMILE and Using Money Wisely), Richard Massey, Maurice Stevens (Urban League), Rita Dent (Harvest Consulting), Alisa Smedley (Harvest Consulting), Al Grimes (CC Fatherhood Initiative), Tom Mendelsohn (Empowerment Center), Donald White (Huron Hospital), Beverly Porch (Huron Hospital), Bonnie Tortelli (Marymount Hospital), Laurel Yee (Huron Hospital), Teleange Thomas (MomsFirst), Mary Farmerie (CFC), Bob Farmerie (PEP), Anthony Adkisson (AIDS Task Force), Harvey Peek (Creative Profits), Edward Little (Office of Reentry), Deborah Benn (DVC), Kimberly Todd (Huffman Group), Ali Brawner (May Dugan), Blanca Figueroa (May Dugan), Tonya Minich (DCFS), Lizz Dubin (WSEM), Rachel Hohman (WSEM), Stephan Hawkins (Options for Families and Youth), Chuck Restivo (Suited for Men), Rev Dr BA Moore (Passages), Arnell Hurt (EFS), Michael Falatach (CSEA)
Welcome: Karen Tatter, Childbirth Education Coordinator at MetroHealth Medical Center welcomed the Healthy Fathering Collaborative to the meeting.
Round of Introductions: Meeting participants introduced themselves and their agency affiliation.
Harvest Consulting Dollars and Dads Program: Alisa Smedley of Harvest Consulting gave an engaging presentation about her work with fathers on financial education. Alisa emphasized that she focuses on “financial recovery” not “financial literacy”. She works on attitudes and behaviors and believes that money attitudes shape a household. Dollars and Dads workshop teaches fathers to value their time with their children rather than valuing money. She uses the book, “Alexander who used to be rich last Sunday” in the program. Alisa is willing to bring her workshop to your agency for a minimum of 5 fathers. Cost is $20 per person and the workshop lasts for 2 hours. Contact Alisa at 216.990.2563 or . Alisa’s contact information is also on the www.neofathering.net website.
SMILE and Using Money Wisely: Lawrence Sharp provided a multi-media presentation on his work. He agreed that financial literacy is a behavioral issue, not a programmatic one. Lawrence’s program uses music and video to teach financial literacy skills with youth. He has recently used this method in conjunction with the Children’s Museum on the Partners in Play and Learning project. Lawrence is also focused on developing community owned businesses and investment projects and works in the Fatima Neighborhood Center area. Lawrence’s contact information is 216.254.2612 or or can be found on the collaborative list on the www.neofathering.net website, Network Meetings page.
Options for Families and Youth Teen Fatherhood Program: Stephan Hawkins spoke to the group about his work with teen fathers through the programs offered by Options for Families and Youth. The Team for Teens program works with adolescent expectant and parenting parents. To be eligible for the program, either the mother or father must be 20 years of age or younger. Both parents are served by the program and some transportation is provided. The program meets at the YMCA Express at Parmatown Mall on Thursdays. Stephan also offers a group just for Teen Dads every other Tuesday and uses the 24/7 Dads curriculum. Contact Stephan for more information, 330.212.4611, 216.267.7070, x48 or .
Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry: Ed Little, consultant to the Office of Reentry, provided an overview of reentry issues in Cuyahoga County as well as a description of the mission of the Office of Reentry. The office is a facilitator of services for reentering ex-offenders rather than a direct service provider. Staff help people that are working with men and women returning to Cuyahoga County from prison. Ed emphasized that the Office is working hard to connect agencies that work with this population and eliminate the silos that often exist in public services. He emphasized that individuals with strong family ties are much less likely to recidivate and is working to incorporate this philosophy in the work of the Office of Reentry. Steve Killpack pointed out that the Healthy Fathering Collaborative made an effort to include family issues in the original planning process for the office but was not successful. Ed and the Collaborative are hopeful that this philosophy can be actively included now, particularly with more coordination between the Office of Reentry and the Office of Fatherhood at the County. Ed also advocates for more private sector corporate participation to improve the career ladder for restored citizens. The Office of Reentry is hosting a Community Forum at Trinity Cathedral on June 27. Information will be out at a later date.
A lively discussion followed Ed’s presentation, which could have gone on for hours. There is a lot of passion in the community around serving this population and doing it in a coordinated way through public-private collaboration. Richard Massey spoke about the cost of the prison system and suggested a website on the topic, www.realcostofprisons.org .
An Urban Institute publication on Reentry Facts and Figures along with a summary of HB 130 were distributed at the meeting.
Child Support Guidelines Forum: Steve Killpack provided a brief update on the work of the State Child Support Guidelines Council and announced that 2 public forums on the Guidelines will be held on Tuesday August 5th, 11:00am to 1:00pm and 5:00pm to 7:00pm at the Visiting Nurses Association, 2500 E 22nd Street between Orange Ave and Community College Drive. This is an important opportunity for practitioners and parents to provide input. More information will follow…
Scenarios USA Update and Masculinity Event: Steve Killpack provided an update on the very successful Scenarios USA program in Cleveland. Cleveland youth accounted for nearly half of the submissions in the script writing contest and the film written by the winner, Erlaina Kemp, was produced at Martin Luther King High School in early June. A number of groups, Scenarios, the Healthy Fathering Collaborative, Prevent Premature Fatherhood, the Domestic Violence Center and the Mens Violence Prevention Task Force are planning an event in the fall to feature other participants in the contest and members of the community. The event will allow individuals to do readings and provide other media presentations on the topic of Masculinity. More information will follow…
2008 Cuyahoga County Celebration of Fatherhood: Al Grimes and Kimberly Todd provided last minute information on the County Fatherhood Celebration, Friday June 13 and Saturday June 14.
Community Reentry and Recovery Training: Fred Knuckles of University Settlement presented information on a training on July 18. A free presentation of families of incarcerated individuals in the faith community will be offered in conjunction with this training. Registration and training information was sent out through the Healthy Fathering Collaborative email list.
Empowerment Center Partners in Play program: Tom Mendelsohn of the Empowerment Center talked about the Partners in Play sessions his agency is sponsoring along with the Children’s Museum. Information was sent out through the Healthy Fathering Collaborative email list.
Agency Updates and Announcements:
· CSEA is sponsoring a Streetfest on Monday August 4th, 10:00am to 2:00pm on East 17th Street, between Superior and Payne. Agencies are encouraged to sponsor a resource table at the event. Information was distributed at the meeting and sent out through the email list.
· The Shaker Family Center is sponsoring their annual Dads Day Run on Father’s Day. They offer ways for all members of the family to participate.
· The June 15th Father’s Day march planned by Otis Rodgers has been postponed due to difficulties negotiating with the Justice Center.
· Sandi Hoch announced the final Prevent Premature Fatherhood event at Nueva Luz on June 28th. The event will offer HIV testing, viewings of Beats and Rhymes and fun, 12 noon to 5 pm.
· Passages is hosting a retreat in conjunction with CMSD’s Closing the Achievement Gap program. The Prevent Premature Fatherhood program is providing programming.
· Black and Brown Dialogues update – Dr Moore provided an update on the program and announced that participation has been strong by both Latino and African American fathers and sons.
· Suited for Men is now housed at Passages, offering the resale of gently used clothing. Passages also offers transportation services to prisons and is working hard to provide these services efficiently in light of rising gasoline prices.
· Sportfishing Commission - Al Grimes announced that the Commission offers fishing trips for fathers and children
· Strong Start – Charmaine Pope announced the enrollment was open for the next session of Strong Start and that the program offers mega incentives for couples that enroll, including car seats, strollers, etc.
· CSEA Outreach – Mike Falatach announced that his outreach division is developing a skit that dramatizes the dynamics of child support and family. The program will target young adults to help them understand the child support system.
· KeySource – Darella Motley of KeySource emphasized that she continues to see the power in a parenting agreement between mothers and fathers. Such agreements can be effective in keeping dads out of prison for criminal non-support.
· MetroHealth Doula Program – Karen Tatter provided an update on Metro’s Doula program which now has a contract with DCFS to provide doula services for at-risk expectant parents.
2008 Healthy Fathering Collaborative meeting schedule:
· Friday August 1 at the Cuyahoga County Board of Health
· Friday October 3 at the Domestic Violence Center
· Friday December 5 at Passages
All meetings will be 9:30 am to 12 noon.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 am.