Office for Children
Fairfax County Department of Family Services
12011 Government Center Pkwy., Suite 920
Fairfax, VA 22035
Media contacts: 703-324-7162 or 703-324-8042
TTY: 711
Office for Children’s Male Involvement Activities
According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, children who have involved fathers do better in school, have higher self-esteem, and are less likely to use drugs and engage in criminal activity than children who have uninvolved fathers. The Department of Family Services Office for Children, which runs the Head Start program in Fairfax County, will offer special activities involving male role models and fathers with Head Start children during the Week of the Young Child, April 14-18.
On Thursday, April 17, male firefighters and bus drivers will distribute and read books to children from 10 a.m. to noon at the Gum Springs Children’s Center, located at 8100 Fordson Road in Alexandria. The books have been donated by the Kiwanis Club as part of the Reading Is Fundamental program.
On Friday, April 18, male students from George Mason University’s Chi Psi fraternity will join parents, firefighters, bus drivers and Head Start children on a field day.
“Head Start – which is a federal program administered locally – has a national fatherhood initiative,” says the Office for Children’s Head Start Director, Jennifer Branch. “Involving male role models is a valued contribution to the Head Start program, and it's an important ongoing focus for us.”
More information about the county’s Head Start program can be found on the Office for Children’s Web site at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/ofc.
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To request this information in an alternate format, call 703-324-8042, TTY 711.