Conference focuses on role of fathers

SALT LAKE CITY — What is a good father? That's the question the University of Utah social work professor Jason Castillo posed to an audience of fathers and social workers Thursday.

A panel discussion on bettering fatherhood in the state was organized by the Fathers and Families Coalition of Utah to initiate community involvement.

Frank Bedolla, event organizer and director of the Utah chapter of Fathers and Families, hoped to stir community interest in fatherhood issues that the state and nation are facing.

"My goal is to develop a coalition amongst the community to hopefully promote fatherhood in all aspects," Bedolla said.

The panel discussion was prompted by President Barack Obama's announcement in February that $500 million in competitive grants was up for grabs. The Fatherhood, Marriage and Families Innovation Fund focuses on building fatherhood programs, especially those that include strengthening healthy marriages. Each state can apply for the grants, but in the past, the East Coast has received the bulk of the money.

Now, Utah must build on existing programs and focus on fatherhood issues to compete for the grant money. Many organizations throughout the state already deal with family support, but focusing the lens on fathers is the next step.

Getting a group together that agrees on a direction will be the next big step for Fathers and Families Utah Coalition, Castillo said.

"The players are all there," he said, "but the goal is getting all those players to the table and trying to operate in a manner that's conducive to when we're at the table, but also to put together a plan so we're all moving together in the same direction."

Discussion Thursday about developing better families, better home lives and better fathers ranged from issues in domestic violence, correctional detention, low-income families and fathers' custody rights. There is no cut and dried formula to making a better father or to properly target which initiative would be valuable in obtaining federal grant money.

Of the nearly 70 million fathers in the United States today, fewer than half are married and living in the same house as their children. And of the fathers who aren't living in homes with their children, 14 percent to 24 percent are living below the poverty line. Fathers living outside the home are twice as likely to have mental illness or substance abuse issues.