ACF Launches 2012 Fatherhood Buzz Barbershop Tour

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 15, 2012
Contact: Kenneth J. Wolfe
(202) 401-9215

ACF Launches 2012 Fatherhood Buzz Barbershop Tour to Raise Awareness About Responsible Fatherhood and Parenting

 

In an effort to increase awareness about responsible fatherhood and parenting by using community barbershops, the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Family Assistance in partnership with the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse will launch the 2012 Fatherhood Buzz Barbershop tour. The tour will take place on the eve of Father’s Day, Saturday, June 16, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“Fatherhood is the most important job a dad could have,” said George Sheldon, acting assistant secretary for children and families. “This tour takes our involvement in promoting responsible fatherhood to a whole new level by going into community barbershops and providing valuable resources men need to be loving, compassionate, involved parents for their children and families.”

The Fatherhood Buzz Barbershop Tour will feature an in-person seminar with barbers in each of the eight cities included in the pilot. Barbers will be given a Barbershop Engagement Toolkit that contains facts, advice, and community resources that barbers can use with customers interested in learning more about how to be an engaged and responsible father.  Each barbershop will receive posters to display in their shop, financial literature to distribute to clients and parenting tips. A total of 25 barbershops were selected throughout Albany, N.Y., Atlanta, Ga., Chicago, Ill., Los Angeles, Calif., Milwaukee, Wis., New York, N.Y., Philadelphia, Pa., and Washington, D.C.

“Barbers engage in one on one conversations with fathers everyday and these tools will give them new ways to provide helpful advice and ideas about where fathers can get help so they can do a better job supporting their children emotionally and financially,” said Earl Johnson, director for the Office of Family Assistance.

President Obama’s Fatherhood Initiative is a multi-year effort to help fathers connect with their families coordinated by the Office of Public Engagement and the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships within the White House. Through this initiative, President Obama has joined with fathers around the country to send a strong message about personal responsibility while supporting dads who want to be there for their kids.

As part of the President Obama’s Fatherhood Initiative, Fatherhood Buzz is a pilot program of The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse, an established, national and international resource for fathers, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers.  


###

Note: All ACF news releases, fact sheets and other materials are available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news.