Children from homes without fathers make up 63 percent of youth suicides. More than 70 percent of juveniles in state reform institutions come from fatherless homes and daughters with absentee fathers are 164 percent more like to give birth out of wedlock.

And those were a few of the staggering figures David Harris, director of Georgia’s Fatherhood Program, offered to Rome Kiwanis Club members Monday.

The Fatherhood Program has been administered through the Division of Child Support Services since 1998. Some 4,300 adults participated last year and Harris said he expects the number to increase more than 7,300 by the end of the federal fiscal year in September.

“That’s a sign of where the economy is going,” Harris said. The program collected more than $12 million in child support money last year.

Harris told the civic group that when both parents are actively involved in a child’s life, that the non-custodial parent pays about three times better than parents not directly involved in their children’s lives.

“What we’re trying to do is to make sure children have both parents in their lives,” said Harris.

While men dominate the program, Harris said the program is taking on an increasing number of women each year.

“Mothers tend to be more successful in completing the program because they want their children back,” Harris reported. He said the ratio of those who enter the program to those who complete it runs about three to one.

“Life gets in the way,” he said. “If they don’t do what we ask them to do, they’re never going to become self-sufficient.”

Key things participants are asked to do include getting a GED if they haven’t finished high school, as well as participate in the Georgia Work Ready program.

The program generally takes three to six months to complete and parents are required to work and make child support payments throughout the program.

The Fatherhood Program offers a subsidized employment initiative thanks to a federal stimulus grant that flows through the Department of Family and Children’s Services.

“We work with employers and pay 80 percent of the salary for up to six months. It helps people get a job and helps employers find out if the individual is going to be a good employee,” Harris said. The United Parcel Service is a big participant in the job program.

Harris said employers are not committed to keeping the employees past a six month period.

“A lot is going to depend on what the economy does,” he said.

The program also works with the Department of Corrections to offer men, or women, a plan to reintegrate into society and take care of their parental responsibilities before leaving prison.

“Most people who come into our program really want to do the right thing. They want to do right for their kids,” Harris said.