Opportunity Youth Playbook: Strategies for Parents with Young Children

Preventing Intergenerational Disconnection by Ensuring Boys of Color Enter School Ready to Learn and Read at Grade Level by the Third Grade is one section of the “Opportunity Youth Playbook: A Guide to Reconnecting Boys and Young Men of Color to Education and Employment.”

Nearly one-quarter of disconnected youth are parents of young children. When noncustodial parents are included, that number is even higher. Contrary to popular misconceptions about the roles young men of color play in their children’s lives, a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that fathers of color were just as, or even more, involved with their children compared to other groups. As the charts below show, black fathers are more likely than white fathers to help their children with their homework, and Hispanic fathers are more likely than white fathers to share meals with their children daily.