Fatherhood Initiative
July 2007

In 2006 with Grant Funding from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s Strengthening Families through Stronger Fathers Initiative, Seedco launched a Fatherhood Initiative to provide non-custodial parents with the services they need to enter the workforce and meet their financial obligations.

Program Services
In partnership with a consortium of community-based organizations (CBOs) and specialized service providers, we will provide program participants with the following services:

• Employment services, including job readiness training, occupational skills training, and placement into full-time unsubsidized employment;
• Intensive case management and counseling;
• Parenting training, with a focus on managing a healthy relationship with the custodial parent(s) and maintaining a positive role in the lives of the children;
• Legal services, including criminal record checks, rap sheet cleansing, application assistance for New York State Certificates of Relief from Disabilities;
• Financial counseling, including assistance managing finances to meet child support obligations and repairing credit scores to improve financial standing;
• Access to income-enhancing work supports, including eligibility screening and application assistance for the Non-custodial Parent New York State Earned Income Tax Credit (NCP NYS EIC); and
• Child support order payment incentives, including a loan product that will provide low-interest, flexible term financing to non-custodial parents with arrears;

Key Partnerships
The Fatherhood Initiative is administered at four locations: the Seedco managed Upper Manhattan Career center, Citizens Advice Bureau in the South Bronx, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation and St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corporation in Williamsburg. In addition, the Bronx Defenders/Reentry Net provides legal services, Credit Where Credit is Due provides financial counseling, and the Center for Employment Opportunities provides parenting training.

For more information, please contact Jessica Nathan

For information on the New York State Fatherhood Initiative, please contact Kenneth Braswell at (518) 409-4971, or visit www.dads.ny.gov