The latest U.S. Census Bureau stats show that the majority of households with children in this country remain the two-parent variety. But one-out-of four households with kids have only one parent. Far and away, that parent is called "Mom." Combine that with poverty, repeat over several generations, and Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil said you've got the recipe for kids dropping out of school, and committing crimes.
"Our crime sometimes is generational crime. And that means we failed several years ago to address some of the issues when they crop up today."
It's mostly the boys who follow this crooked path, said McNeil. And he asserted one reason is because they lack loving, positive male role models in their lives. In other words, a "dad." Kids can sometimes turn to their peers to help fill the void, but often those peers don’t provide good guidance. Second Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jack Campbell said these groups of young men often reinforce their own worst instincts and get into BIG trouble.
"They don't want to call law enforcement when one of their friends gets shot. What they do is they and their friends will then arm themselves and go and resolve it. Two weeks ago we had 3 shootings within 12 hours on a weekend. None of them contacted law enforcement or cooperated with us. Instead what they did is they and their friends 'gunned up,' and that's how one shooting turns into two and turns into three."
So, in answer to the question why so many young people are involved in crime, Mark Merrill, the founder of Tampa-based "Family First" said, just look at how many single-parent homes there are today.
"We're seeing about 18 million kids who live in the U.S. who don't have a father involved in their life. Specifically, a biological father. If you think about that stat, that's enough to fill New York City twice, or Los Angeles 4 times over."
During the 2022 Florida Legislative Session, lawmakers passed - and Governor DeSantis signed - the "Father First" bill to encourage more biological dads to stay with their children by funneling funding toward programs aimed at supporting dads. The legislation put Merrill's organization in charge of implementing the law.
"Family First and our All-Pro Dad program was challenged and given the responsibility to implement this initiative called 'Father First Florida.'"
Lawmakers set aside just under $69 million for the program. Merrill said part of that is going to public awareness campaigns to promote responsible fatherhood.
"We're also doing it on the ground at the community level through a network of - so far - 30 community organizations we've brought together and provided funding through this legislation."
Organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs, Children of Inmates, Be Strong International and many others. Merrill said these groups supply the actual services.
"Provide mentorship programs, one-on-one support, help them with counseling, child custody issues, and so many different things. Even for incarcerated dads."
As Father First Florida heads towards its third year, Merrill said it's still a bit early to judge its effectiveness as it tries to reverse many generations of family dysfunction.
"We're already getting a lot of input. People are starting to pay more attention to this issue and these community organizations are serving more and more men and families and children. I really sense that over the next year we're going to start seeing more metrics and KPIs of lives being impacted."
"KPIs" standing for "Key Performance Indicators." Which is a fancy way of saying more kids and more dads being together.
