Economic Development, Job Training and Social Entrepreneurship

"The need for an acute focus"

The experience of the fatherhood programs across the state has highlighted the fact that lack of employment is one of the greatest barriers to father involvement. Employment is critical to a father's ability not only to provide materially for his family and himself but also to maintain his own self-esteem and dignity. 

However, employment is scarce for fathers who are often unskilled and uneducated. In addition, they encounter barriers to employment due to lack of a valid driver's license or reliable transportation, run-ins with the law, and simply put, the availability of jobs. Today's economic climate only contributes to the employment woes of fathers. Especially in rural communities of South Carolina, plant closings and little to no economic development make securing a job almost impossible.

As a strategy to assist fathers in meeting their social and economic responsibilities to their children, the Center, through the development of a social purpose enterprise, seeks to stimulate entrepreneurial activity in fatherhood programs throughout the state as a means to reduce barriers to employment for low-income fathers. A social purpose enterprise is defined as a mission-based, earned-income venture designed to assist those on the margins of society by reducing barriers to employment.

The proposed social purpose enterprise is a carefully conceived fit with the Center and local fatherhood programs because of the following:

• It creates employment opportunities for fathers statewide
  
  
• It reduces the burden on the State and taxpayers by providing a vehicle for the payment and re-payment of child support
  
  
• It capitalizes on one of South Carolina's identified growth sectors
  
  
• It builds upon and enhances an emerging, yet untapped market
  
  
• It raises the visibility of positive impact of fatherhood programs and father involvement
  
  
• It provides a social return by protecting the environment and helping
  fathers support themselves and their families, thus reducing the burden to society when fathers are not involved
  
  
•  It helps generate a self-sustaining revenue source that supports the other services of the fatherhood programs
  

Outcome Strategy

The economic development, job training and social entrepreneurship initiative provides the needed mechanism for a father to meet his financial requirements to his children, reduces the cost on the State of South Carolina and, most importantly, allows him to maintain his dignity by providing for himself and his family.