Commission Task Force

The Right of Children to have access to both Biological Parents; establishing the right of children to have access to their parents and vice versa is both feasible and necessary. A strong legal foundation exists for this right, as documented by Kevin A. Golembiewski, Esquire, Co-Founder, of The Strong Families Commission, Incorporated (THE COMMISSION). However, equally necessary is strong leadership to move this right forward. THE COMMISSION seeks a Task Force Chair willing to explore this issue further.

3FA (Father Friendly Flagship Agencies)
Division of Accreditation, Continuing Education and Quality Assurance

The Strong Families Commission, Incorporated (THE COMMISSION) is committed to helping Philadelphia become the most father friendly city in America. In order to be effective, THE COMMISSION must advocate for strengthening families and improving developmental outcomes for children by promoting Greater Father Family Involvement in the lives of children & families, and the intentional transformation of social service agencies and other systems of care that serve Communities and families. In that regard, in April 2016, after a 4 year continuous learning process, THE COMMISSION recognized and certified 25 Philadelphia children, youth and family-focused agencies as 3FAs (Father Friendly Flagship Agencies). In January 2018, after an additional 2 years of collaborative learning, 12 of those agencies were accredited as 3FAs. A 3FA can be a child and family service provider agency, a children and youth institution for adolescent care, and/or a governmental family policymaking center that frame (s) the delivery of services that impact the lives of children and families, including extended family connections. 3FAs are dedicated to the well-being of children, youth, and families, and is committed to the inclusion of fathers in a service delivery model, which has been accredited by The Strong Families Commission, Incorporated (THE COMMISSION), head-quartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. THE COMMISSION seeks a Program Administrator to manage its Division of Accreditation, Continuing Education and Quality Assurance.

National Council of Fellows

The Strong Families Commission, Incorporated (THE COMMISSION) is pleased to announce its Practitioner/Scholar Development Program (PSDP). PSDP is designed to support and encourage practitioners, researchers, policy analysis, and administrators interested in making informed contributions to society’s understanding of the importance of fathers within the lives of children and families. Successful applicants will be known as “National Fellows of the Commission” and will receive faculty rank based on a set of criteria. The annual selection process is designed to be highly competitive. Applicants are expected to possess an understanding of and a commitment to Commission values and philosophy; they must be performance-driven and have an entrepreneurial spirit.

System Impediment Review (SIR)/Public Education and Advocacy Initiative (PEAI)

The first public education and advocacy initiatives of The Strong Families Commission, Incorporated (THE COMMISSION) in 2015 was PEAI; designed to support children, youth, and family agencies that are Father Inclusive, and which face systemic barriers to connecting, re-connecting, or maintaining connections of fathers to their children. PEAI uses an internal process referred to as (SIR) “Systems’ Impediment Review” to document the systemic barriers that children, youth and family-focused agencies face. Local, State and National Child and Family Advocates are invited to partner with THE COMMISSION to educate the public regarding systemic barriers that they face providing safety, permanency, and well-being for children and families that they serve. THE COMMISSION seeks a Program Director to manage its Public Education and Advocacy Initiative, using its internal review process known as SIR.

Schuylkill West Project

The need for a Schuylkill West Child and Family Economic and Health Assessment Project:

The Strong Families Commission, Incorporated (THE COMMISSION) has come to understand to promote involved, responsible, and committed fatherhood advocates, and service provider communities, both must enter the conversation together and thereby change the cultural context and strategy for strengthening families, inclusive of fathers. In this regard, The Schuylkill West Child and Family Economic and Health Assessment Project is waiting to be launched by THE COMMISSION as a preventive measure, to raise the awareness within communities, of the consequences for children and youth entering, re -entering, and/or remaining in child welfare, juvenile justice, and/or other systems of care, due to the inability of parents to form and sustain an intact family structure. The Project will serve primarily Philadelphia County Zip Codes: 19131, 19151, 19139, 19104, 19143, 19142, & 19153. This ambitious project calls for THE COMMISSION to seek a Chief Organizer, Community Developer & Program Implementation Officer.

Harvey House

Serving as a laboratory for testing promising ideas and generating best practices, the goals of Harvey House are fivefold: 1) to educate fathers for parenting the next generation, by understanding self, i.e. masculinity, fathering roles, & family dynamics within an ever changing environment within the context of human development; 2) assist fathers in “Full Male Development” (FMD), meaning they are culturally rooted, self-affirming, and productive members of their families, communities, and society at large. FMD men strive to achieve their ideal potential at very phase of their developmental life cycle; 3) support family self-sufficiency through forensic education, evidence-based behavioral health alternatives, and employment and training services; 4) work collaboratively with children, youth and family advocates in the designing of programs, materials, and strategies that advocate and promote best practice alternatives and public policies relevant to fathers raising children; and 5) develop and maintain a “state-of-the-art” action research and service delivery model that addresses the cycle of human development within fathers and their children for the purpose of all becoming better contributors to society. THE COMMISSION seeks educators and researchers to drive this initiative.