The Story behind IFRO
As a single father and parent, Mr. Stephenson has experienced the social services and foster care services, first hand, by trying to obtain services for his son. His child was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, ADHD, and a behavioral disorder.
He encountered negative results such as bias and lack of customized programs for fathers. The programs available were for all families and not just for the single mother headed households.
Mr. Stephenson's experiences with the lack of communication, programs, and support systems designed for families that were headed by single fathers, led to the development of International Fathers Rights Organization (IFRO).
The Struggle
Many programs, through the state of Kansas, are aimed at single mothers as the head of household, and are often not prepared to support families that were headed by fathers only.
Throughout his experience, Mr. Stephenson was told that the only way to obtain services was to sign his son over into a foster care and encounter bias. He was unable to care for his son because of the bias. He admitted that he needed help in developing new ways to maintain a healthy family.
The bias in the system for single-headed families for mothers, prompted the development of IFRO. This was created for supportive development for all families that needed information and resources, that they could use to be productive in their communities.