H. C. R. 20

(By Delegate Petersen, et. al.)




Requesting that all public support programs for children in West Virginia be designed to encourage fathers to be present in their children's homes and lives, and that programs that require fathers to be absent as a requirement for receiving services be restructured to eliminate such requirements.

Whereas, Fathers make unique and irreplaceable contributions to the lives of their children; and
Whereas, Forty percent of children in the United States today live in homes in which their biological father does not live; and
Whereas, Thirty percent of births in the United States today are to unwed mothers, compared to only five percent in one thousand nine hundred sixty; and
Whereas, The absence of the father from the child's home is the strongest statistical factor in children's lives that predicts poverty, drug abuse, gang membership, early unwanted teenage pregnancy, poor performance in school and other bad outcomes; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That all public support programs for children in West Virginia shall be designed to encourage fathers to be present in their children's homes and lives, and that programs that requirefathers to be absent as a requirement for receiving services shall be restructured to eliminate such requirements; and, be it
Further Resolved, That fathers have a moral as well as legal responsibility to support all their children; and, be it
Further Resolved, That as a matter of public policy, becoming pregnant out of wedlock shall be discouraged; and, be it
Further Resolved, That married couples shall understand that current statistical evidence shows that in most cases, children are better off in a home with their mother and father both being present and married, than when parents divorce; and, be it
Further Resolved, That public policy shall encourage father- friendly workplace practices; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the "Family Matters" media campaign shall include information to the public regarding the importance of fathers in children's lives.