Alabama Fatherhood Initiative Program (AFI)

Calhoun Community College’s Alabama Fatherhood Initiative Program (AFI) recently received an award notification in the amount of $50,000 from the State of Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention (Children’s Trust Fund – CTF).  The funds will be used to provide job readiness training, job development activities, child support education, case management, job referral, substance abuse referral and domestic violence education and referrals to non-custodial parents in Morgan and Limestone counties.

The AFI is a collaborative effort between Calhoun Community College, Morgan County’s Department of Human Resources, Morgan County District Court, Decatur Youth Services, Family Services Center of Huntsville, Morgan Baptist Association, The North Alabama African American Chamber of Commerce, The Mental Health Center of North Central Alabama, Decatur Career Center, the Decatur CareerLink, the Limestone County Department of Human Resources, Limestone County District Court, and the Limestone County Boys and Girls Club.  Participants of the program will be referrals from the Department of Human Resources and District Courts of Morgan and Limestone counties.

Data indicates that approximately one half of Alabama’s child support caseload is characterized by lack of child support or irregular child support payments.  The majority of non-paying cases with non-custodial parents and custodial parents are characterized by lack of education, training, effective employment and/or other self-sufficiency problems.  Calhoun’s Alabama Fatherhood Initiative Program offers court ordered participants the opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge needed in order to gain employment and uphold their court ordered obligations to their children.

Through the grant, Morgan and Limestone County will realize an increase in the consistency of child support payments by fifty percent as participants become gainfully employed.

For more information regarding Calhoun’s Fatherhood Initiative Program, please contact Ms. Angela Henderson at 256.306.2914 or arh@Calhoun.edu. Also, visit the Alabama Fatherhood Initiative website.