Texas Fatherhood Campaign

What Is The Texas Fatherhood Campaign?

The Texas Fatherhood Campaign, a.k.a. Texas Dads, is a statewide, region-by-region effort to positively impact fathers and their children. Through public messages and local fatherhood conferences, fathers learn of the powerful impact they have on their children, including the devastating effects of father-absence. The TFC is led by Free Market Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation based in Plano, Texas.

Former Dallas Cowboys Coach, Tom Landry, originally signed on to be a spokesman for the Fatherhood Campaign. After he passed away, his son, Tom Landry Jr., continued the legacy of his father and serves as Honorary Chairman.

What Do We Do?

The goals of the Texas Fatherhood Campaign are to:

• Saturate the state of Texas with the heartbreaking facts of father absence sending the message, "Your kids need you!"
• Provide resources through literature, conferences, public service announcements, etc., intended to encourage better relationships for fathers and their children.

Why Do We Exist?

Over the past 30 years, the crisis of children being raised in homes without the influence of their fathers has reached epidemic levels. An estimated 24.7 million children live in homes absent their biological fathers. More than one-half of all children who live without their father have never been in their father's home.

The effects that "father absence" are having on children and society is catastrophic. The following grew up in homes without fathers:

• Three out of four teenage suicides occur in single-parent households
• 72% of adolescent murderers
• 60% of America's rapists
• 70% of long-term prison inmates

Although society suffers tremendously from father-absence, efforts to battle this disaster are minuscule at best. In most cases, today's media promotes a misleading message that fathers are unimportant to the lives of their children. Groups exist on a national level encouraging father involvement, but with such a broad audience and lack of funding, efforts have been diffused and ineffective. It is never too late for a father to reconnect and positively impact their children's lives. Visit the Texas Fatherhood Campaign website for more information.