CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Virgin Islands Justice Department’s Access and Visitation Program and Paternity and Child Support Division is partnering with the Department of Education in the national initiative for fathers to take their children to school on Monday.
The DADS Take Your Child to School Day initiative highlights and supports fatherhood engagement in education by helping schools foster this vital connection with fathers and father figures.
“Fathers and significant male caregivers are invited to accompany their child or children to the school campuses,” according to organizers. “The goal is to encourage or increase father involvement in education on the first day and throughout the school year.”
Research indicates engaging dads, brothers, uncles, father figures, other significant male role models, and male mentors increases student success in numerous ways. Dads Take Your Child to School Day assist schools with building capacity in fatherhood engagement.
“I would like to encourage all father and male caregivers to take their children to school on the first day because supportive and committed families can determine the successful trajectory of our children’s lives,” V.I. Attorney General Denise George said. “We are excited to continuously support families through our Access and Visitation Program which uses evidence-based parenting education and visitation services to help fathers and mothers stay engaged and connect with their children while assisting them with the tools necessary to strengthen the roles they play in their children’s lives.”
There will be 300 hundred t-shirts given to the Department of Education from the AVP which is a federally funded program under Title IV Section D of the Social Security Act.
Each year, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OSCE) provides mandatory grant funding to states and territories to operate the Access and Visitation Program designed to fund services to help noncustodial parents spend more time with their children and strengthen parental and family relationships.
According to the OSCE, researchers have found that financial and emotional support is interrelated.
For more information on the initiative, please see the attached flyer and call the Access and Visitation Program, DOJ Paternity and Child Support Division at 340-775-3070 on St. Thomas and St. Croix at 340-778-5958. Additionally, you can email the team at [email protected].
