NFI History
National Fatherhood Initiative is dedicated to giving our nation's children a brighter future by educating and engaging fathers. No other issue is as pervasive and destructive as father absence. Father absence is strongly linked to poverty, teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, abuse, suicide, and a host of other issues.
After 1960, our nation's communities saw a fourfold increase in father-absent homes, and the effect on our nation's children and families is clear. Today, one in three children are growing up without their father; in the African American community, it is two out of every three children, and teen pregnancy, suicide, child abuse, and juvenile delinquency are more prominent than ever.
Finding a solution for father absence...
In 1993, Don Eberly, a former White House advisor and prominent social thinker, as well as several other scholars, met to discuss the growing problem of father absence in America, and, in 1994, the National Fatherhood Initiative was founded, based on the following principles:
- Fathers make unique and irreplaceable contributions to the lives of children
- Father absence produces negative outcomes for children
- Societies which fail to reinforce a cultural ideal of responsible fatherhood get increasing amounts of father absence
- Widespread fatherlessness is the most socially consequential problem of our time.
15 Years of Impact
Since it’s founding, NFI has reached millions of fathers via skill-building resources, public service announcements, the NFI website, and other important tools and initiatives. In the past fifteen years, through the help of generous supporters like you, NFI has achieved the following milestones:
- Ensuring that two million more children are living with their fathers.
- Reaching over one million fathers with skill-building resources.
- Equipping over 6,000 organizations to connect fathers and families.
- Creating the first bi-partisan House and Senate Taskforces for Responsible Fatherhood.
- Supporting hundreds of thousands of military families with valuable resources.
- Training over 3,100 community organizations to equip and educate fathers.
Reaching fathers in your community...
Today, we're working in all fifty states - in your community - to continue to give kids a resource they desperately need: an involved, responsible, and committed father. Help us continue our important work and bring about stronger families and communities for America. Donate today.