GADSDEN, AL – The Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention joined local and state leaders to present a check in the amount of $13.6 million to grantees, including the Skills Training Division at Gadsden State Community College. The check presentation was Feb. 18 in the Alabama State House in Montgomery.

The Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, also known as the Children’s Trust Fund, provides annual funding to programs across the state dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Gadsden State received $164,000 to fund its Empowering Families through Workforce Fatherhood Initiative. The program helps participants from the community and in area jails work toward economic stability through job training and soft skills while also providing workshops in parenting skills and relationship skills.

“These activities are designed to help parents become financially self-sufficient as well as foster the development of new, stronger relationships between parents and their children,” said Baisha Woody, director of the Skills Training Division. “It also encourages the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.”

In addition, the grant helps to provide scholarships for eligible parents to participate in a job training program at Gadsden State.

“The Skills Training Division offers programs that can upgrade skills to develop better-trained employees,” Woody said. “It also serves as a good resource for entry-level hiring needs of local business and industry.”

Other Etowah County grant recipients include Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Alabama, Etowah County Commission, the James M. Barrie Center for Children and United Way’s Success By 6.

For more information on the various programs offered through Gadsden State’s Skills Training Division contact Woody at bwoody@gadsdenstate.edu or visit www.gadsdenstate.edu/skills-training.