WHEREAS, According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, one-third of children live in a single parent household and forty-four percent of those children live in poverty; and

WHEREAS, These children fare poorly in educational achievement, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy, risk factors that can be decreased if children have a strong family support system that includes a positive influence from fathers; and

WHEREAS, Most low-income fathers care about their children and want to be involved, and many women want fathers to be involved; and

WHEREAS, Many low-income fathers grew up without their own fathers; lacking realistic examples of what a father should do, prompting the thought that if they cannot provide financially their families are better off without them; and

WHEREAS, Unlike deadbeat dads who have financial resources to provide for their children, low-income dads often are unemployed or do not make enough money to support themselves and their family. More than 80 percent of low-income fathers earn less than $10,000 per year; and

WHEREAS, Many states have attempted to transform welfare to focus on employment and on implementing tougher enforcement mechanisms to collect support from fathers, however, viewing fathers as a resource is not an area where states have experience; and

WHEREAS, New approaches that treat a low-income father and mother as a fragile family, rather than opposing entities, show promise in helping children grow and develop with two involved parents; and

WHEREAS, There is no social network where low-income fathers can go for help, no single point of access where fathers can obtain services; and

WHEREAS, Developing strategies to help fathers is a relatively new approach for state policymakers; and

WHEREAS, The National Conference of State Legislatures is dedicated to providing policy makers with information that is critical to bettering the lives of America's families. NCSL's program offers policy analysis, research, consultation, workshops, presentations, and much more provided at no cost to the State of Rhode Island; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby invites the National Conference of State Legislatures to present its program "Connecting Low-Income Fathers and Families: A Guide to Practical Policies" to the members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he is hereby authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the National Conference of State Legislatures.