Nov 27, 2007 6:26 pm US/Central
TARCO Class Focuses On Making Men Better Fathers
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ―
Dozens of Tarrant County parents face time in jail for not paying child support. The most delinquent parents were rounded up early Tuesday morning by county constables.
Some fathers who've already been to court are now on probation and taking a class designed to make them better fathers. Eric Bene is one of them.
"After ten weeks, everybody in that class has a better relationship with their child," said Bene.
Bene's love in life is spending time with his 8-year-old daughter Ariel. It's hasn't always been this easy.
"Look, Eric. It's not about you, it's not about Cynthia, it's about your daughter," said Bene.
Delinquent child support payments forced Bene into probation and into FOCUS, a court ordered class which changed his life.
"I was taking my anger out on her. Man she's getting child support, I'm barely making it, I don't have nothing coming in this week -- oooh that irritates me," said Bene. "But now look... that little girl is heaven."
Over the past six years, more than 5,000 delinquent dads have been through the 10-week program.
Tommy Jordan is one of three FOCUS instructors.
"This is not a child support payment class," said Jordan. "The class is FOCUS: Fathers Offering Children Unfailing Support. What can a dad do to maximize his influence?"
The idea is to give men the tools they need to become better fathers.
"Once we get people there, they see the benefit," said Donna Larson, the director of the Community Supervision Unit at the Tarrant County Domestic Relations Office. "As a probation officer, it's great to have this kind of resource to send people to, and then to hear the feedback not only from them, but from the mother of the child saying that it's been something that's helped them and helped their child."
Cynthia McDaniel is Airel's mother. While she and Eric were never married, they did have a beautiful child together.
McDaniel said the class has had a tremendous effect on Bene. "I think it's really changed his view of what a father is," she said. "He's stepped up a whole lot and that opens us up to being good friends as well. We're very good co-parents."
Bene couldn't agree more. "My daughter said, 'Daddy, you've changed.' It made me emotional, because I had so much anger," he said. "'She said, 'I love you. You need to go to class more.'"
Bene has already graduated from FOCUS and continues to attend on his own time as a mentor to other men.
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