Ep. 12: Dr. Clinton Boyd Jr. | PCA America 2023 National Conference Podcast

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SPEAKER_00 (00:17):
Welcome to the official broadcast of PCAA
America's National Conference.
I'm Nathan Fink, and I'll beyour host for the next four days
as we embark on thistransformative journey and hear
from experts in prevention, andtogether discover innovative
family-focused policies,cutting-edge research programs,
and practices that help drivethe field toward upstream
thinking so every child has theopportunity to grow up safe and

(00:40):
nurtured.
As Prevent Child Abuse America'sfirst in-person meeting of state
chapters and home visitingnetworks, policy and community
partners, and othercollaborators since 2019, the
2023 conference offers nearly 90sessions, three keynote
speakers, workshops, symposia,and presentations focusing on
effective prevention strategieswith nationally recognized

(01:00):
experts and leaders.
So tune in to hear fromprofessionals, advocates, and
innovators in child abuse andneglect prevention, because each
day is an opportunity to buildfoundations for our future.
Hello, and welcome to the PCAAmerica National Conference
Podcast.
I'm thrilled to be here with Dr.
Clinton Boyd Jr., keynotespeaker at PCA America's 2023

(01:21):
Together for PreventionConference, PCA America's
National Board Member, ExecutiveDirector of Fathers, Families,
and Healthy Communities, andResearcher at Chapin Hall at the
University of Chicago.
Dr.
Boyd, it's wonderful to have youon the show.

SPEAKER_01 (01:33):
Thank you.
It's an honor to be with youtoday.

SPEAKER_00 (01:36):
So among your many focuses of your work, it's
removing barriers for parents,caregivers so their children and
families can thrive.
Now, what kinds of barriers areyou seeing in your work time and
time again?

SPEAKER_01 (01:47):
Well, thank thank you for the question.
And in the context of my work, Ifocus a great deal on parenting
in African American families andspecifically thinking about
father engagement, right?
Um, specifically among AfricanAmerican fathers who may have
had some involvement with thecriminal legal system.
And as they're returning home,they face a variety of barriers

(02:11):
that serve as impediments to thedesire to be actively engaged in
the lives of their children,right?
Some of those barriers look likehousing insecurity.
Some of those barriers deal witheconomic insecurities,
specifically employer-baseddiscrimination, because a lot of
these guys have a desire to workin the legal economy, but they

(02:32):
often face an uphill battle todo so because employers are less
inclined to hire them, not onlybecause of their criminal
record, but also because of thestigma associated with them
being black men.
And so a lot of my work isreally geared towards one,
shining a spotlight on the manybarriers that these men face,

(02:58):
but also thinking about ways inwhich we can take stock of their
individual and collectivestrengths because I truly
believe that these guys are morethan the worst thing they've
ever done.
And they are truly assets totheir children, families, and
community, and they just need toget connected to opportunity
structures that will allow themto manifest and showcase their

(03:21):
God-given greatness.
Yeah.
Let's talk about thoseopportunity structures.
Yeah, so at Fathers, Families,and Healthy Communities, we're
an organization that was, youknow, created to really provide
pathways forward for so many menin the community who are looking
for ways to have meaningfulengagements with their children,

(03:41):
right?
And so some of that looks likefor fathers who may be
confronting legal barriers,specifically in the area of
child support andcustody-related issues.
We have partnerships with umlegal aid organizations in
Chicago where we provide probono low-cost legal services to

(04:01):
our fathers because many of themare financially unable to cough
up the upfront fees associatedwith, you know, having a lawyer
um look at their case and tryand advocate for them having
legal access to their children,right?
So that's one example.

(04:21):
Another example is really alsoconnected to providing job
training and placement umservices to fathers who are in
search of work that not providesa minimum wage, but that
provides a living wage, thatprovides a family sustaining
wage.
And more recently, we've beentaking things a step further and

(04:45):
thinking about whatentrepreneurship programs look
like for our guys, many of whomhave been involved in street
life, um, many of whom haveskills and gifts that they've
honed, unfortunately, fornefarious and felonious
purposes, but helping them tounderstand that those same

(05:05):
skills can be utilized for arighteous purpose and can be
utilized in a way that willallow them to make an honest
living.
And so we've been doing a lot ofwork in that space as well.

SPEAKER_00 (05:19):
I'm really glad you differentiated between wage and
living wage.
Oh, yeah.
Now, a critical part of all thisprogramming, all this support is
obviously the research andlearnings that research brings.
So to make sure that, you know,we are discovering and emanating
solutions that really doprogress our population.
Right, right.
So I I'm curious to know howdoes your, you know, Vista or

(05:44):
viewpoint as a researcher comeimplementer?
How do you view that?

SPEAKER_01 (05:49):
Yeah, fun that I I really appreciate that question
because it allows me to bringthe two disparate worlds that I
operate in together, right?
You know, as a researcher, therehas been a tendency within the
academy to just think about thework that we do within the
research world as being siloedor disconnected from, you know,

(06:13):
the everyday experiences ofordinary people.
However, the way that I approachthe work is think about how we
can leverage the science, how wecan leverage the data to um
really drive solutions that arealso informed by the voices of
the families and the fathersthat we engage through our work.

(06:35):
So it's like that mantra,nothing for us without us.
Yes.
I really bring a community-basedparticipatory research approach
to my work because I really viewthe fathers as co-creators in
all of the programs that we'redeveloping at FFHC.
And outside of the ones thatwe're developing, even the

(06:56):
programs that we're refining,because FFHC has been around for
roughly two decades.
I've only been sitting in theseat of executive director for
about two years.
And so my predecessors had theforesight to know back in the
90s and the early 2000s that wenot only need to leverage the

(07:18):
research about, you know, whatare the best and promising
practices for engaging fathers,but how do we also engage the
fathers in the process so we gettheir buy-in and craft solutions
to those um socially vexingproblems that are really working
against them and preventing themfrom achieving social, economic,

(07:43):
and spiritual mobility.
Dr.
Boyd, it has been an absolutepleasure having you on the show.

SPEAKER_00 (07:48):
Thank you.
I really appreciate it.
And stay tuned for moreinterviews from PCA America's
National Conference Podcast.