Program to Help Single Low-Income Fathers

Several Southern California community organizations are among the recipients of a $10-million initiative to promote responsible fatherhood and increase child support among poor, single fathers of children on welfare, officials said.

Unveiled at a news conference in Washington, the project by the nonprofit National Center for Strategic Nonprofit Planning and Community Leadership benefits groups in 10 cities, including a coalition of Los Angeles-area community groups that has entered into an agreement with Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.

The coalition includes the Truevine Baptist Church in Lynwood; the Role of Men Project, a Long Beach health program; the Los Angeles Veterans’ Initiative; and the Bienvenidos Children’s Center in East Los Angeles. Altogether, the groups are to receive annual grants of $200,000 for the next three years. That money will fund a model program that aims to reach 100 men between the ages of 16 and 25.

The men will receive job counseling, training and placement services as well as counseling designed to draw them into closer relationships with their children.