House Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #3275 Project SOAR
Requester:	William "Bill" Feaman		Organization:		Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County, Inc. (HM/HB)
Project Title:	Project SOAR		Date Submitted:		01/31/2000 11:55:46 PM
District Member:	Addie Greene		Service Area:		County
Counties Affected:	Palm Beach
Recipient:	Responsible Fatherhood Initiative (HM/HB)		Contact:		William "Bill" Feaman
	211 S. Federal Hwy, Suite 15		Contact Phone:		(561) 732-2110 233
	Boynton Beach 33435
Project Description:
The premise of Project SOAR is that we can best serve fathers and prospective fathers and therefore families, by reaching out to them on the areas where we are most likely to encounter young men. Support Outreach, Awareness of the importance of being a father and Responsible Parenting programs and sercies will be provided to single fathers and young men before they become fathers within established commmunity institutions, programs and the media. Under Project SOAR we provide support groups, parenting education, school based male repsonsibility presentation and referral services to boys and men at risk for becoming single father, and also single father ansd fathers suspected of possible abuse and/or neglect of their children. Rahter than waiting for men to come to us for these services, we reach out to them in five six distinct arenas: 1. Middle and high school classsrooms where we conduct presentation on the consequences of teen pregnancy and male responsibility in all but two of our Palm Beach County schools. 2. Florida Outreach Childbirth Education and Parenting Classes which are low cost, low literacy outreach classes conducted through the Palm Beach County School Adult Education depatrment and administered by HM/HB. 3. A special incentive coupon ffering within our "Reach Out" program for at-risk pregnant women. 4. Four local parks where we establish sports league to attract men. The men participate in a league sport and also attend suppport groups and a parenting education series. 5. Referrals from the Department of Children and Families. 6. An extensive media campaign promoting the SOAR services and educating the community on the importance of father involvement.
Services Provided/Benefit to State:
All pieces of Project SOAR are replicatible in other areas of the state. Media pieces can be adapted for localization in other areas, curriculums for parenting classes, the school presentation, the expectant father education and support group formats are all being tested and refined during this first year that will commence June 2000. Upon completion of the "field research" we will have a good idea of what impacts father and community attitude with regard to the importance of fathers, and what educational pieces are beneficial to the fathers themselves. Once this process is completed, staff and volunteers involved in the project would be willing to provide training and technical assistance to other communities to benefit fathers, families and children.
Measurable Outcome Anticipated:
Through the media campaign we anticipate that we will continue to see an awareness of the importance of father involvement. Students in our school presentations will understand the consequences of teen pregnancy and over time we should see a reduction on the teen pregnancy rate in our community. Fathers attending the childbirth classes will be better prepared to assume the parenting role and we anticipate and increase in paternity acknowledgements among single fathers attending the classes. Finally, father referred through the Department of Children and Families should demonstrate improved parenting skills thus decreasing the incidence of abuse and neglect.
Amount requested from the State for this project this year:				$200,000
Total cost of the project:		$217,000

Request has been made to fund:			Operations
Is there Local Government or Private match for this request?						Yes
				In-Kind Amount:		$17,000
Was this project previously funded by the State?						Yes
	Fiscal Year:	'99-2000		Amount:		$100,000
Is future-year funding likely to be requested?						Yes
	Amount:	$200,000
	Purpose for future year funding:				Recurring Operations
	Will this be an annual request?					No
Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request?						Unknown
Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget?						Unknown
Is there a documented need for this project?						Yes
	Documentation:	Community needs assessment
Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)?						Yes
	Hearing Body:	Palm Beach County Delegation
	Meeting Date:	02/17/2000