Celebrating 20 years of father engagement efforts, collaboration and systems change!

The Connecticut Fatherhood Initiative (CFI), Department of Children and Families’ Dads Matter Too! and Central Connecticut State University’s Healthy Fellows/Man Enough Support Initiative are hosting federal, state and local stakeholders for a two-day event entitled Achieving a Positive Family Legacy: A Statewide Summit on Fatherhood on August 8 and 9, 2019 at Central Connecticut State University’s Alumni Hall.

This event will convene policymakers and other stakeholders to share information about current father engagement efforts; highlight fathers as critical forces in their children’s lives and how state systems can assist with the important role they play;  demonstrate the importance of collaboration; identify action steps to further the work Connecticut is doing to support fathers and families and celebrate twenty years of father engagement efforts in Connecticut.

The Summit will also feature a public awareness video project produced by the Connecticut Fatherhood Initiative called the Dear Dad Tour.  The Dear Dad Tour is a collaborative effort of Connecticut Fatherhood Initiative partners, the Department of Social Services (DSS) and American View Productions (AVP), a marketing and promotions agency. For 20 years the CFI has been changing the systems that can improve fathers’ ability to be positively involved in the lives of their children. This public awareness campaign shares compelling fatherhood stories of men, women and children throughout the state to bring attention to the activities of the Connecticut Fatherhood Initiative as people explain what fatherhood means to them and how we can be affected by the presence or absence of our fathers. More information can be found on the Dear Dad Tour website at www.deardadtour.org

Invited to participate include representatives from federal Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Child Support Enforcement, all three branches of state government, local nonprofit agencies serving fathers and families and fathers involved with services across Connecticut.

Currently celebrating its 20th year, the Connecticut Fatherhood Initiative is a broad-based, multi-agency, statewide effort led by the Department of Social Services and focused on changing the systems that can improve fathers’ ability to be fully and positively involved in the lives of their children.  For more event information about the Connecticut Fatherhood Initiative, please visit www.ct.gov/fatherhood. 

Follow this link to view the Summit Brochure.  

Follow this link to view the Summit Agenda for Day 1.

Follow this link to view the Summit Agenda for Day 2.