Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, representing  the National Partnership for Community Leadership, joined us live on Get Your Justice Live to discuss the 100th Anniversary Year of Father’s Day, the National Fatherhood Conference for Responsible Fathers, and the National Fathers Day Rally on the Lincoln Memorial. Take a listen at the shortened 31 minute version so that you can get all the information about Dr. Jeffrey Johnson’s perspective on fatherhood, absenteeism, the events, and government policy affecting our families and children.

“The National Fatherhood Conference is occurring June 16th through June 19th, 2009. The National Fathers Day Rally is occurring on June 20th, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial.”

I asked Dr. Jeffrey Johnson “what is the best form of child support that a father can offer their child?” and he replied pretty clearly that being a father is more than being a paycheck and that the “best support that a father can provide to their child is to be “present.”

Over 2 million children in the United States live in Fatherless homes. As a result, child/teen statistics related to violence, failure in academics, broken relationships and more, have grown to an alarming rate. Active involvement of both parents has proven to be direct link to child success in personal life decisions, academics, and beyond. (Click here to read documented statistics on growing Father absence in the US)

Dr. Jeffrey Johnson agrees that current policies that affect the family promote negative results of fatherlessness rather than positive results of having fathers “be present.” In fact, responsible fathers are going to be praised at the National Fathers Day Rally in Washington DC this June 20, 2009. Click the flyer image for more information on attending or starting your own rally in your State!

Changes are going to occur by coming together and setting differences aside. As I have been pushing forward, children need both parents and the parent-child relationship should be the positive result in legislation. “Parental Rights should be respected and protected by all,” and we need to focus less on conflict and more on conflict resolution in todays legislation.

Now we still have time to time to get the interesting fact out that this year is the 100th Anniversary Day for Fathers Day out to members of the press, marketing coordinators for stores, and more so that it is reflected in advertising, media releases, and the general public.

Don’t forget that next month is National Child-Centered Divorce Month and July 26, 2009 is the National Parents Day. We will have more information on how you can help raise awareness in the coming week.

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Michigan Representative Brian Calley suggests “that so many of the problems that we face, be it in criminal justice system, economy, the education system, and so forth can be traced back, those are all symptoms to problems that really start much earlier in life with the breakdown of the family.” I asked the Representative if bringing children under rule of two parents will improve the economy, he certainly agreed and discussed how he thought it would help in the long-term.

In a report titled Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005 (Issued August 2007) by Timothy S. Grall, an estimated 13.6 million parents had custody of 21.2 million children under 21 years of age while the other parent “lived somewhere else.” It is important to note that 5 out of 6 of the parents in the report are mothers, leaving approximately 1/5 the remaining single-parent households as headed by the father.

The data supports Michigan Representative Calley’s position on the social ills that are affecting Michigan and other states, as the super majority of the single-parent households are disproportionately single-mother households. According to conservative statistics, claims have been made that fatherless children are 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders, 9 times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 9 times more likely to end up in state operated institutions, 20 times more likely to end up in prison, as well as some other staggering social ills.

There certainly is room for more research on both motherless and fatherless situations, as both parents certainly provide balance components to the well-being of their children. These statistics on youth suicide certainly make the case that children should have access to both parents:

• “In a study of 146 adolescent friends of 26 adolescent suicide victims, teens living in single-parent families are not only more likely to commit suicide but also more likely to suffer from psychological disorders, when compared to teens living in intact families.” Source: David A. Brent, (et. al.) “Post-traumatic Stress Disorders in Peers of Adolescent Suicide Victims: Predisposing Factors and Phenomenology.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 34 (1995): 209-215.
• “Fatherless children are at dramatically greater risk of suicide.” Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, D.C., 1993.
• “Three out of four teenage suicides occur in households where a parent has been absent.” Source: Jean Beth Eshtain, “Family Matters: The Plight of America’s Children.” The Christian Century (July 1993): 14-21.
• “A family structure index — a composite index based on the annual rate of children involved in divorce and the percentage of families with children present that are female-headed – is a strong predictor of suicide among young adult and adolescent white males.” Source: Patricia L. McCall and Kenneth C. Land, “Trends in White Male Adolescent, Young-Adult, and Elderly Suicide: Are There Common Underlying Structural Factors?” Social Science Research 23 (1994): 57-81

We will be keeping a close eye on the progress of this legislation, and believe firmly that the parent-child relationship should always be the focus of our laws. As part of this process we will be analyzing the likely savings in reduced caseload and disputes between parents as a result of heightened evidentiary standards, a reduction in false allegations, and other direct savings to the State of Michigan.

Please note that the episode linked herein is a portion of the show, meant to focus on Representative Brian Calley’s position. After circulation the original full episode with listener commentary will be added to the site.

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This episode also discusses state and federal remedies, language, and action leading up to other major legislative initiatives nationwide. Join Host and Producer Lary Holland, on the official Get Your Justice Live internet broadcast every Wednesday and Sunday Night at 8PM EST.

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