Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday unveiled a $7 million growth of the “Fatherhood Initiative,” aimed toward strengthening father-child relationships, offering monetary help, and equipping fathers with very important parenting abilities.
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Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday unveiled a $7 million growth of the “Fatherhood Initiative,” aimed toward strengthening father-child relationships, offering monetary help, and equipping fathers with very important parenting abilities.
First launched in Adams’ 2025 State of the Metropolis handle, this growth underscores his administration’s dedication to creating New York Metropolis the premier place to lift a household. Analysis signifies that kids with concerned fathers are much less prone to enter the felony justice system, highlighting the initiative’s potential to foster safer communities.
Managed by the New York Metropolis Division of Youth and Neighborhood Growth (DYCD), the elevated funding will double the variety of fathers served from 1,500 to three,000 over the following two fiscal years. The announcement comes forward of town’s first-ever fatherhood symposium, “Empowering Fathers, Thriving Children: A Citywide Fatherhood Plan for Child Well-Being,” happening on February 28.
“To be the best city to raise a family, we need to ensure families remain connected and receive holistic support from city government,” Mayor Adams stated. “DYCD’s ‘Fatherhood Initiative’ has a proven track record of investing in fathers and families for over two decades. Now, our administration is going even further by doubling the program, expanding services, and ensuring that families continue to thrive in our city.”
DYCD has overseen the Fatherhood Initiative for over 20 years, supporting 1000’s of fathers and households. Research present that engaged fathers improve their kids’s growth, main to higher verbal abilities in infants, elevated persistence in toddlers, and better tutorial achievement in adolescents.
“For many years, I was a single father raising two kids and a recipient of services through the Real Dads Network,” stated DYCD Commissioner Keith Howard. “If it weren’t for that help, I would not have been able to raise Maya and Tyler in a loving and supportive environment. With this unprecedented expansion of DYCD’s 23-year-old ‘Fatherhood Initiative,’ our outstanding network of providers will have the resources to make this the greatest city to raise a family.”
The initiative presents fathers and their kids as much as six months of case administration, with follow-up providers accessible for as much as a 12 months. Its core focus contains parenting abilities, co-parenting, employment and schooling, little one help, and little one visitation or placement.
DYCD additionally collaborates with different companies and organizes citywide occasions resembling Father’s Day, Mom’s Day, and Dads Take Your Baby to Faculty Day, reinforcing the importance of paternal involvement in little one growth.
