Fathers Incorporated Partners with the U.S. Census for ‘Black Dads Count’

Black Dads Count Is an Effort Galvanizing Black Fathers to Ensure They are Counted and Valued in the 2020 U.S. Census.

ATLANTA (January 16, 2020)

Fathers Incorporated will officially launch Black Dads Count, an awareness campaign to advance a conversation and civic engagement amongst Black Dads and the 2020 U.S. Census on MLK Day, January 20, 2020.  The campaign launch includes events and informational sessions taking place between MLK Day and the official launch of the Census in April. Black Dads Count (BDC) has partnered locally with Fair Count and will participate in their Black Men Speak series in January as well as other BDC-specific forums. For information about events, partners, partnerships and Census facts, please visit website.

As part of a corporate giving initiative, the organizations hosted a “build day” on November 2nd at Hilton Atlanta Airport where Foresters employees took a portion of their professional development training to work together on a corporate “give back” initiative with Little Free Library. This is one element of Foresters history of providing life insurance with a larger purpose, which includes offering all policyholders (called members) a full suite of unique benefits that further Foresters fraternal mission of enriching the well-being of middle-market families and their communities.

Because of its emphasis on inclusion, particularly for Black dads, the campaign has attracted the support of national partners; Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color, The Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA), K.I.N.G., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., National Cares Mentoring Movement (CARES), The National Healthy Start Association (NHSA), The Black Man Can (TBMC), United Way of Metro Atlanta and the Census Bureau.

2020 marks the 55th Anniversary of the 1965 Moynihan Report. The controversial report argued that combating poverty required strengthening families in the United States—particularly through positively impacting Black men. Five decades after the release of the Moynihan Report, national databases indicated that little progress has been made on the key issues Moynihan identified. Moreover, many of the issues for Black families highlighted by the report are now worse and are prevalent among other families.

“The 2020 U.S. Census affords us the opportunity to engage Black Dads in an extremely meaningful way,” states Kenneth Braswell, CEO of Fathers Incorporated. “As mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the census is a once every-decade count of everyone living in the country. When we know how many people live in your community, organizations and businesses are better equipped to evaluate the services and programs needed, such as clinics, schools, and roads. It also determines how seats in Congress are distributed among the 50 states.”

Fathers Incorporated has invested 15 years of service in building the capacity of fathers (particularly Black fathers) to be available, equipped and positively present in the lives of their children and family. At the most fundamental level of being a father is the need to be present and civic-minded. These responsibilities are crucial to the overall success and well-being of themselves and families.

Fathers Incorporated has been invited by the U.S. Census to be a national partner to specifically focus attention primarily on Black Dads and their families in Hard To Count (HTC) communities. While the campaign will have a national focus, there is a more intentional focus around efforts on the ground in Metro Atlanta. These efforts can be duplicated and scaled to be implemented in other hard to count communities around the country.

About Fathers Incorporated

Established in 2004, Fathers Incorporated (FI) has worked to engage, equip and empower a community network of fathers and families by creating an environment of support, parental education, positive societal narratives and a father-focused blueprint to elevate the awareness of responsible fatherhood.