V.I. Attorney General Denise George reminds the public that the Access and Visitation Program (AVP) of the V.I. Department of Justice (DOJ) Paternity and Child Support Division (PCSD) is partnering with the Department of Education (DOE) St. Thomas-St. John School District in a national initiative for fathers to take their children to school on Monday, Aug. 8.
The ‘Dads Take Your Child to School Day’ initiative highlights and supports fatherhood engagement in education by helping schools foster this vital connection with fathers and father figures. Fathers and significant male caregivers are invited to accompany their child or children to the school campuses. The goal is to encourage or increase father involvement in education on the first day and throughout the school year.
Research indicates that engaging dads, brothers, uncles, father figures, other significant male role models and male mentors increases student success in numerous ways. ‘Dads Take Your Child to School Day’ assists schools with building fatherhood engagement.
“I would like to encourage all father and male caregivers to take their children to school on the first day because supportive and committed families can determine the successful trajectory of our children’s lives. We are excited to continuously support families through our Access and Visitation Program which uses evidence-based parenting education and visitation services to help fathers and mothers stay engaged and connect with their children while assisting them with the tools necessary to strengthen the roles they play in their children’s lives,” said V.I. Attorney General Denise George.
There will be 300 hundred T-shirts given to the Department of Education from the Access and Visitation Program, which is a federally funded program under Title IV Section D of the Social Security Act. Each year, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OSCE) provides mandatory grant funding to states and territories to operate the Access and Visitation Program designed to fund services to help noncustodial parents spend more time with their children and strengthen parental and family relationships. According to the OSCE, researchers have found that financial and emotional supports are interrelated.
For more information on the initiative, call the Access and Visitation Program, DOJ Paternity and Child Support Division at 775-3070 on St. Thomas or 778-5958 on St. Croix. Additionally, people can email the team at viaccess@vi.gov.
