Did you know that children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor as their peers? At Catholic Charities USA, we are committed to reducing poverty by promoting and enhancing programs that support fathers, preserve families, and strengthen communities.  Catholic Charities agencies across the United States strive to help men become better fathers by implementing special programs that focus on professional skill development, health and wellness, financial literacy and the skills fathers need to become more involved in the lives of their children.

In 2011, 69 of our local Catholic Charities agencies provided special programs to support fatherhood:

·         17 agencies offered temporary shelter for men with children and 20 agencies offered transition housing for men with children.
·         32 agencies served more than 3,490 clients through father involvement programs.

If you are or know a father who could benefit from these services, please find a Catholic Charities agency in your area here.

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Alexandria, Va. – It is with tremendous sadness and in thanksgiving for a life fully lived in service to all of God’s children that Catholic Charities USA joins with the 1.4 million Catholics of the Diocese of Brooklyn and the staff of Catholic Charities of Brooklyn-Queens in mourning the passing of Joseph Michael Sullivan, Retired Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn.

“Bishop Sullivan was a true servant of God and a shining example of what it means to fully live out the Gospel call to serve,” said Father Larry Snyder, President of Catholic Charities USA. “He was a respected leader that all looked up to and were inspired by, and he will be sorely missed.”

Click here to download the full statement or read a full story from the New York Times here.

Bishop Sullivan joins Members of CCUSA’s leadership and Board of Trustees at the White House.

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A recent online news story notes that CCUSA is a dues-paying member of a coalition that – in addition to its work on poverty – has supported policies against Catholic teachings and ethical practices. CCUSA’s involvement in the Coalition for Human Needs is limited to its work to combat poverty. In fact, a prerequisite of our participation in the coalition was the inclusion of a disclaimer to policy statements that clearly indicates that statements made by the coalition do not necessarily represent the positions of any of the individual organizations.

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“Catholic Charities USA applauds the work of members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who chose compassion over partisanship this week when they joined together across party lines to approve legislation creating a pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in our country who are currently forced to live in the shadows.

“Catholic social teaching calls us to seek justice for newcomers, and our history as a faith community in the United States has been as an immigrant Church to an immigrant nation. As such, we strongly believe that any proposal considered must – at its core – build up our communities and support our families by including a path to citizenship, allowing families to remain intact, providing worker protections and addressing the plight of undocumented children.

“While the debates taking place in our nation’s capital are often divisive and polarizing, we are encouraged that important issues such as immigration reform are being used as opportunities for our elected leaders to fulfill their moral responsibility to the nation through bipartisan cooperation and compromise.”

To download the complete statement, please click here.

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As violent storms continue to churn across the central United States – already impacting over 64,000 people in the towns of Newcastle and Moore, Oklahoma- our thoughts and prayers are with those people in their path.

 Patrick J. Raglow, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, reminds us that –fortunately or unfortunately–Oklahoma is quite experienced with Disaster Response.

 Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City meets regularly with other Disaster Responders in the community, and just last week met to ensure their ability to plug in directly to the response effort.

Catholic Charities plays a well understood and important role in response: Disaster Case Management. Together with other local responders (Red Cross, Salvation Army, Southern Baptist Disaster Response, St. Vincent de Paul Society of our Archdiocese, and more), Federal Emergency Management Agency, Small Business Administration, state and local government agencies, we collectively form a Multi Agency Recovery Center. In the Center, they assess families and individuals, provide direct assistance and connect them with other providers, and enter them as needed into long-term (sometimes lasting 18 months or more) case management to help them through their recovery.  As a network, we understand what we need to do, and are ready to do our part.

 As this heartbreaking situation continues to develop, Catholic Charities USA is monitoring the situation on the ground and stands ready to help emergency personnel in disaster response and recovery.   

Click here to donate to CCUSA to help us provide critical services during this uncertain time.      

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“Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte has provided vital services helping those in need in the Charlotte area for 40 years,” said Fr. Larry Snyder, President of CCUSA. “We are grateful for their service and thrilled by their decision to rename the organization to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Charlotte in order to better reflect their commitment and mission to serve the less fortunate as part of the Catholic Charities USA network.”

Please click here for the full release.

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“Fr. Greg has spent his life devoted to creating opportunities for a segment of the community others may have given up on,” said Rev. Larry Snyder, President of CCUSA. “His commitment to helping underserved populations is an inspiring reflection of the ability of individuals to lift up those in need through a powerful dedication to faith.”

Boyle’s keynote will take place on Sunday, September 15.

Please click here for the full release. 

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Pregnancy Services

• Agencies reported 97,445 clients received pregnancy services. This is up 19% relative to 2010.
•  Agencies served more than 11,500 pregnant teens.
• 8,882 pregnancy services clients received educational services.
•  3,025 pregnancy services clients participated in residential housing programs.

Housing

• 33 agencies offered temporary shelter for women with children.
• 43 agencies offered transitional housing for women with children.

Adoption

•  Agencies completed 3,397 adoptions in 2011.
• 2,145 adoptions from foster care
• 1,612 adoptions of special-needs children
• 529 inter-country adoptions

For more information, view our 2011 Annual Survey Data here.

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Download the entire release here.

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