Reported by: Jay Warren
Photographed by: Eric Clajus
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
Lighthouse Youth Services helps Dads take new skills into the world of parenthood.
"This is my first child and I just wanted to be the best father that I possibly could for my son," said Charles Reynolds, a "REAL Dads" program graduate.
Issues of parental responsibility, particularly that of African American fathers, came to the fore recently when Senator Barack Obama called on them to do more.
"Teaching our sons to treat women with respect and to realize responsibility does not end at conception – that what makes them a man is not the ability to have a child, but to raise one," Obama said at the NAACP national convention held in Cincinnati this week.
The 12-week program meets once a week where fathers who are in the Hamilton County Child Support System can share feelings and learn new skills.
Enrollment in the program bolsters a father's standing with the courts.
"I'm pretty happy with Hamilton County for allowing this program to go on to help men to help fathers find a way or a solution to where they could be with their kids and see their kids," said program graduate Barry Cosby.
The program was started last year, so there is currently no long term data to show how the graduates perform once they leave the security of the program.
Calvin Williams, the program coordinator, says the graduates have access to support from Life Coaches during and after the program.
Williams says the program will only take men who want to be there.
First-time father and graduate James Stanback offers this advice to any first time Dad, "Be there. Tell your son you love him, be in his corner at all times – whether he is right or wrong."
