Two agencies received funding from the Federal Office of Family Assistance to serve fathers and families in Ohio in fiscal year 2012 - October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. 

The RIDGE Project received two grants to serve a total of 2600 low income ex-prisoner fathers.  Services will be provided within 6 months of release or recently released to individuals in one of 20 Ohio counties.  The program will provide a combination of an already proven successful combination of family-centered case-management combined with promoting healthy-marriage, responsible fatherhood and employment/job skills through the Keeping FAITH (Families And Inmates Together in Harmony) program. The agency will begin serving the majority of the clients while they are in prison, although they will also accept clients as they walk in or are referred by judges and partner agencies.  Click here for a press release announcing the grants.  Download a summary of the reentry grant here and the pathways to responsible fatherhood grant here.

WSOS received a grant for its Fatherhood Connections program to serve 200 fathers in five counties in rural Northwest Ohio (Hancock, Wood, Sandusky, Ottawa, and Seneca counties).  The program is structured to work with fathers faced with barriers that affect their abilities to support their children emotionally and financially. The program provides access to employment, education, training, intensive family-centered case management, as well as a range of other support mechanisms in a comprehensive, individually tailored service delivery model that helps families reach economic stability.  Click here for a press release announcing the grant and here for a summary of Fatherhood Connections program.