Federal grant to fund parenting skills for fathers

COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) – One of the state’s largest providers of mental health and addiction services has received a $9.7 million federal grant for a new program to improve the parenting skills of fathers in six south central Indiana counties.

Centerstone says it will begin Providing Opportunities for Parental Success, or POPS, to identify and overcome barriers that prevent fathers from being involved in their children’s lives.

Centerstone Bloomington program manager Richard Kosmala told The (Columbus) Republic for a story Sunday the program will target biological fathers, stepfathers and expectant fathers in Bartholomew, Brown, Lawrence, Monroe, Morgan and Owen counties.

The program is partially funded by a grant from the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.