Text: HF00542 Text: HF00544 Text: HF00500 - HF00599 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 217A.1 PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
1 2 PROGRAM.
1 3 1. The department of human services shall convene an
1 4 advisory group that includes representatives of the Iowa
1 5 department of public health, the department of education, the
1 6 department of workforce development, the department of
1 7 corrections, the Iowa empowerment board, other state agencies
1 8 that provide services to families, and representatives of
1 9 business and industry, parents, and state and local community
1 10 leaders, to develop a plan that provides a comprehensive
1 11 approach to policy and service delivery at the state, county,
1 12 and local level and provides a network of services to assist
1 13 both mothers and fathers in parenting their children. While
1 14 the comprehensive approach shall address the needs of both
1 15 parents, the focus shall be on creating a policy and service
1 16 delivery system that provides a network of resources to assist
1 17 fathers in becoming and remaining engaged in their children's
1 18 lives. The plan shall be implemented on or before December
1 19 31, 2001. The advisory group shall monitor the program and
1 20 shall convene to recommend changes in policy and service
1 21 delivery following implementation.
1 22 2. The comprehensive approach to parental involvement
1 23 shall provide for all of the following:
1 24 a. STRUCTURE AND POLICIES.
1 25 (1) Identification of state laws, regulations, policies,
1 26 and practices that interfere with or fail to help fathers
1 27 become or remain engaged in their children's lives. Following
1 28 identification, a statewide policy and service delivery
1 29 strategy shall be developed and implemented to facilitate
1 30 collaboration between existing state agencies to provide
1 31 access points to channel fathers to necessary services. The
1 32 policy and service delivery system shall support both parents
1 33 and shall be gender neutral.
1 34 (2) Development of flexible service delivery options
1 35 within the state system, including in the public assistance
2 1 and child support systems, to address the varying needs of
2 2 families which may include traditional enforcement of program
2 3 requirements, referral to services, or other options.
2 4 (3) Integration of the state system and community level
2 5 services to provide a social network that is accessible to
2 6 fathers as well as mothers. The integration shall include the
2 7 development of a partnership between the courts, child support
2 8 enforcement, the family investment program and other state
2 9 programs, and community-based organizations that deliver an
2 10 array of services. The partnership shall promote delivery of
2 11 services to fathers at the same level as to mothers and the
2 12 services shall include but are not limited to employment
2 13 assistance; job training; peer support; relationship building;
2 14 parenting; social and business skills development; and other
2 15 services that increase a parent's ability to be a successful
2 16 parent.
2 17 (4) Creation of a systemwide approach for delivery of
2 18 services to families that creates a family support network
2 19 that does all of the following:
2 20 (a) Trains service workers to include both fathers and
2 21 mothers as a family unit, rather than separately, in the
2 22 delivery of services.
2 23 (b) Promotes a common awareness across disciplines, for
2 24 workers providing services to parents and families, of the
2 25 importance of both parents in children's lives.
2 26 (c) Systematically engages both parents and does not
2 27 segment families in the provision of services.
2 28 (d) Improves communication across delivery systems.
2 29 (e) Provides for the partnering of various disciplines and
2 30 levels of government in providing services to parents and
2 31 families.
2 32 (5) Implementation of enhanced child support policies.
2 33 Child support agencies shall be used to combine traditional
2 34 support enforcement efforts with nontraditional methods such
2 35 as downward modification which reflect the father's real
3 1 income, referral to employment services, development of
3 2 payment plans, and referral to services to negotiate
3 3 visitation plans or develop better parenting and relationship
3 4 skills. Policies shall provide for services to both parents
3 5 as a family unit and shall view fathers as clients of the
3 6 system not as adversaries of the system. Enhanced child
3 7 support policies shall include the development of procedures
3 8 to distinguish fathers who are able to pay support but refuse
3 9 to pay support from fathers who are unable to pay support due
3 10 to unemployment or employment that pays an insufficient wage
3 11 for self-support and support of children. Child support
3 12 procedures shall include outreach to fathers prior to child
3 13 support proceedings to elicit their input in establishing a
3 14 realistic child support order amount, and shall provide
3 15 fathers with information about the child support system
3 16 including information regarding rights and responsibilities
3 17 under the system.
3 18 b. CONNECTING FATHERS WITH NECESSARY SERVICES.
3 19 (1) Utilization of the existing service system, including
3 20 the courts and the public assistance and child support
3 21 systems, as contact points to connect fathers with local
3 22 community-based services that help fathers develop the skills
3 23 to become better parents and partners and more productive
3 24 members of the workforce.
3 25 (2) Utilization of employment opportunities and training
3 26 as catalysts to involve fathers with programs and then
3 27 encourage participation in supplementary services such as peer
3 28 support, counseling, anger management, and parenting education
3 29 that help fathers develop skills to retain jobs and build
3 30 healthy relationships.
3 31 (3) Utilization of nontraditional contacts such as
3 32 voluntary paternity establishment programs, child care
3 33 centers, head start, recreation centers, and others to connect
3 34 fathers with necessary services.
3 35 (4) Utilization of contacts with women who are
4 1 participating in public assistance programs to connect with
4 2 fathers, if appropriate.
4 3 c. PUBLIC AWARENESS.
4 4 (1) Promotion of public awareness of the importance of the
4 5 emotional and financial involvement of both parents in their
4 6 children's lives.
4 7 (2) Use of the media to encourage parents to discuss
4 8 pregnancy prevention and parental responsibility with their
4 9 children.
4 10 d. PREVENTION OF AND PLANNING FOR PARENTHOOD.
4 11 (1) Inclusion in the curriculum of grades nine through
4 12 twelve and in the postsecondary education curriculum of
4 13 responsible parenthood programs. The curriculum shall target
4 14 both young men and young women and shall include gender-
4 15 specific lessons for males and females that focus on the
4 16 unique male and female roles in pregnancy prevention. Other
4 17 programs that encourage young men and women to delay
4 18 parenthood and that provide preparation for the emotional,
4 19 legal, financial, and educational responsibilities of
4 20 parenthood shall be promoted.
4 21 (2) Utilization of a variety of access points to reach
4 22 young men who may be outside of the school environment to
4 23 provide prevention information. Such access points may
4 24 include recreation centers and sporting events, youth
4 25 development, peer education, youth leadership development,
4 26 male involvement groups, media campaigns, community programs,
4 27 and street outreach. Information provided shall focus on the
4 28 issues of respect, leadership, and responsibility. Mentoring
4 29 programs shall be used to provide young men with positive
4 30 adult role models. A sense of hope for the future shall be
4 31 encouraged by providing alternatives to risky behaviors such
4 32 as educational and employment opportunities combined with
4 33 training in life skills, prevention information, and male
4 34 responsibility.
4 35 (3) Integration of responsible parenthood and fatherhood
5 1 curricula into existing abstinence and sexuality education.
5 2 e. EMPLOYMENT POLICIES. Promotion of employment policies
5 3 in the public and private sectors that are single-parent
5 4 friendly.
5 5 f. FUNDING. Identification of funding streams to channel
5 6 available funds to parental involvement programs.
5 7 EXPLANATION
5 8 This bill directs the department of human services to
5 9 convene an advisory group to develop a plan to provide a
5 10 comprehensive approach to policy and service delivery at the
5 11 state, county, and local levels that provides a network of
5 12 services to assist both mothers and fathers in parenting their
5 13 children. The bill provides that while the plan is to address
5 14 the needs of both parents, the focus is to be on providing a
5 15 network of services to fathers. The plan is to be implemented
5 16 on or before December 31, 2001. The approach is to include
5 17 provisions relating to system structure and policies,
5 18 connection of fathers with necessary services, public
5 19 awareness, prevention of and planning for parenthood,
5 20 employment policy improvements, and identification and
5 21 channeling of funding streams to support parental involvement
5 22 programs.
5 23 LSB 2896HH 79
5 24 pf/pj/5
Text: HF00542 Text: HF00544 Text: HF00500 - HF00599 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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