Background

Governor Ted Strickland appointed Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones as Chair of an Agency Review Committee in November 2006.  The committee was charged with reviewing the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood and providing recommendations for a fatherhood agenda in the new Governor's administration.  Jones, the original architect of the Commission, assembled a group of fatherhood practitioners and advocates from all corners of the State to perform the review.  The Committee reviewed the original Ohio State Statute 5101.34 authorizing the formation of the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood and examined current fatherhood issues in the State.

The report was delivered to Governor Strickland in late January 2007.  It called for the re-engagement of the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood, $20 million in TANF dollars to fund fatherhood programming and a series of father and family friendly policy reforms. Click here to view the Transition Report       

The Ohio Commission on Fatherhood co-sponsored the first Ohio Summit on Fatherhood with the Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative in 2009 and Governor Strickland proclaimed that the month of June 2009 as Ohio Fathers Month.  Read the press release.

A series of regional summits dealing with critical fatherhood policy issues was launched by OPNFF in 2008 called the Advance Fatherhood Ohio! Summits.  The goal of the Summits is to convene hundreds of public and private stakeholders, fathers, advocates and practitioners to learn about, discuss, and set action steps for public policy affecting fathers and families. To date, four successful Summits have been held and one more Summit is currently planned for April 8, 2010 in Springfield.  Registration information is on our Home Page.  OPNFF members are entitled to advance registration for all Summits.

Cincinnati, May 30th, 2008:  OPNFF, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the Ohio Office of Child Support, the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood and the Ohio Justice and Policy Center sponsored the Advance Fatherhood Ohio! Summit (follow this link for conference materials) on Friday May 30th in Cincinnati. 

Toledo, November 18, 2008: The second Summit was hosted by the Northcoast Fatherhood Collaborative in Toledo.  OPNFF, St. Vincent Mercy Children's Hospital, the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood, Owens Community College, WSOS Community Action Commission, the Reentry Coalition of Northwest Ohio and Local Toledo Business Leaders co-sponsored the successful event.  Materials from the Toledo Advanced Fatherhood Ohio! Summit, are available here in a pdf document.  

Cambridge, April 30-May 1, 2009:  The third Summit was hosted by ForeverDads of Zanesville and co-sponsored by OPNFF and the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood.  Click here for materials from the Spring 2009 Advance Fatherhood Ohio! Summit

Akron, September 24, 2009 :  The fourth Summit was hosted by the Summit County Fatherhood Initiative and co-sponsored by OPNFF and Summa Health Systems. The Summit focused on kicking off a coalition of fatherhood agencies in Summit County and featured speeches by Peter Lawson Jones, Cuyahoga County Commissioner and Chair of the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood and State Representative Vernon Sykes.  Click here to view materials from the Akron Advanced Fatherhood Ohio! Summit

The OPNFF Public Policy Agenda outlines public policy issues affecting the lives of fathers and families in Ohio in 5 general areas:  Child Support; Job Training and Employment; Welfare Reform/TANF; Fathers, Families and Professional Support; and Incarceration and Reentry.  An abridged version of the Agenda was released in September 2006 and was first published in Volume 2, No 2 of the OPNFF Newsletter.

Or click here to download a full version of the Public Policy Agenda as a pdf document.

We welcome comments on the issues outlined in the agenda.  This is a living document that will continue to evolve and change in response to the dynamic public policy environment in Ohio and Nationally.  Please send your comments to info@opnff.net

Comments will be posted in the Fatherhood News section of our website