Here you will find the latest updates from this site and in the field including the following:
September 1st FREE Webinar – “From Arrest to Homecoming: Addressing the Needs of Children of Incarcerated Parents”
New Website – “Time On the Outside: Stories of Families and Incarceration”
CSG Justice Center Unveils Federal Action Plan for Improving Responses to Children of Incarcerated Parents
Mentoring Children of the Incarcerated Program News
September 1st Webinar – “From Arrest to Homecoming: Addressing the Needs of Children of Incarcerated Parents”
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Dee Ann Newell, M.A., Founder and Executive Director, Arkansas Voices for Children Left Behind. Ms. Newell’s organization is instrumental in the development of state legislation to support subsidized guardianship by relative caregivers for children of incarcerated parents and legislation to protect pregnant mothers during incarceration. From 2006 to 2008, she provided technical assistance to fourteen states around policy and program development for children of incarcerated parents.
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Yali Lincroft, M.B.A.., Independent Consultant, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the American Humane Association, and First Focus. Ms. Lincroft’s fifteen years of experience in policy and program planning at the local, state, and federal level includes work as a policy consultant for the San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents’ initiative to improve child welfare services. Her recent and upcoming publications include After the Earthquake: A Bulletin for Child Welfare Organizations Assisting Haitian Families in the United States and a toolkit for social workers assisting incarcerated parents, which will be published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in the fall of 2010.
To register for this webinar, click here.
New Website – “Time On the Outside: Stories of Families and Incarceration”
In the next few months, Shannon Heffernan, as part of a Soros Media Fellowship will launch a new website: Time On the Outside: Stories of Families and Incarceration.
The site will feature in-depth stories of how incarceration impacts families. The site will help to educate the greater public and let families hear from people in similar situations.
NRCCFI is partnering with Ms. Heffernan to assist her in connecting with families if the incarcerated for this project.
You can participate by sharing your story on the anonymous hotline. Just call: 951-262-3339 and start speaking. The hotline is anonymous, stories may be edited for length, but we will work to be true to the original message.
Program providers can share this with family members or assist them in calling in during program activities.
Suggestions for topics to share include: What was the day your loved one got arrested like? What are some special things you do to maintain contact? What are phone calls or visits like? If you could change one thing about the prison system what would it be? What was it like when your loved one returned? How has your family handled the fiancees of having a loved one away? Whats one thing people don’t understand about families of the incarcerated?
Please direct any questions about this project to Ms Heffernan by leaving her a message on the hotline.
CSG Justice Center Unveils Federal Action Plan for Improving Responses to Children of Incarcerated Parents
New York—The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center announced at a Capitol Hill briefing on October 26, the release of Children of Incarcerated Parents: An Action Plan for Federal Policymakers. The plan outlines promising practices and 70-plus recommendations for improving outcomes for the more than 1.7 million children of incarcerated parents. Supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Open Society Institute, the publication reflects the work of an advisory board of criminal justice and child welfare experts, representatives of community-based organizations, and a bipartisan group of state and local government officials.
“Corrections, child welfare, and other agencies that encounter children of incarcerated parents can better coordinate their efforts to provide the care and services they need,” said advisory board co-chair Robin Arnold-Williams, Director, Executive Policy Office of Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire. “The Justice Center partnered with leaders in the field to ensure the action plan guides policymakers on the best strategies to ensure that these children are safe and secure. It is one of the most comprehensive summaries of key policy changes needed for this vulnerable population.”
Families and Service Providers Convened
In response to the proposed recommendations by CSG, a series of focus groups and town hall-style meetings were convened by NRCCFI in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, California and Illinois. Read more about the focus group feedback and the CSG Action plan in our Policy Forum.
Research Consultant Susan Phillips also discusses the CSG Recommendations in her Research and Review Commentary.
Mentoring Children of the Incarcerated Program News
Several regional initiatives focused on the children of the incarcerated have been spearheaded by Big Brothers Big Sisters Agencies with Mentoring Children of Prisoners Programs resulting in unprecedented collaborations and systems change. These types of partnerships are changing public images about children of the incarcerated and are also creating new groups of advocates for the children and their families.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region in Harrisburg PA planned a symposium in October of 2008 that generated tremendous responses! Read more in Children with Prisoners One Year Later, here.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay in Florida along with their partners have created CHIPS- Collaborative for Children in Hillsborough of Prisoners. Read about their upcoming symposium at the Children’s Board in Hillsborough County.
Communication Notations
CHECK OUT THESE 2 IMPORTANT WEB/MEDIA RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES IMPACTED BY INCARCERATION
CALLS FROM HOME, a holiday radio broadcast for prisoners and their families will be heard on over 200 radio stations, reaching into our nation’s prisons so those inside know they are not forgotten.
Call a toll-free line 877-518-0606 up until Dec. 6, 2009 and speak directly to those behind bars this holiday season. An answering machine will record your message. Read a poem, sing a song, or just speak directly from your heart. Speak to someone you know or to everyone who is listening.
Learn more here.
CALLS FROM HOME is a project of Thousand Kites/WMMT-FM/Appalshop Campaign Center and a national network of grassroots organizations working for criminal justice reform.
LIVES IN FOCUS AND FAMILY LIFE BEHIND BARS media project examines the impact on family relations and dynamics when one or more member of a family is incarcerated. The projects uses video, audio and photographs to present the voices of those who are rarely given space or time in traditional news media. A monthly radio program featuring guests who address many of the questions and concerns people have when a loved one is in prison.
For more information visit http://livesinfocus.org/prison/
Family Life Behind Bars Radio is a service of Lives in Focus: Family Life Behind Bars, a community project supported by J-Lab and the Knight Foundation.
Visit our Mentoring page
For current and relevant information on mentoring children with incarcerated parents, family strengthening policies for mentoring programs, ideas for training, inspiring and connecting those working in mentoring programs serving the children and families impacted by incarceration. Winter focus: Staff Development
New Research Resource
A systematic review conducted on the effects of parental imprisonment on children by Joseph Murray and his colleagues – this work http://fcnetwork.org/research-review searched for all studies previously done on this topic, and summarises the results from the best studies. Murray, J., Farrington, D. P., Sekol, I., & Olsen, R. F. (2009). Effects of parental imprisonment on child antisocial behaviour and mental health: A systematic review. Oslo, Norway: Campbell Collaboration (Available at http://www.campbellcollaboration.org).
International News
Announcing Children of Prisoners 2012, an International Conference to be held from July 24th to 26th in Kampala , Uganda.
Sponsored by Wells of Hope in conjunction with international partners , including NRCCFI/FCN the Conference will bring together those working with children of the incarcerated worldwide to consolidate our experiences, share new knowledge and skills, and discuss and jointly develop an International Action Agenda for Children whose Parents are in Prison.
Francis Ssuubi
Executive Coordinator
Wells of Hope
Plot 423,Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road
Makerere,Kampala
P.O.Box 33293,
Kampala,Uganda
Telephone;256414251326
Mobile ; +256 772 407716
Website: www.wellsofhope.org
Media Coverage
Read some of the reporting on children and families of the incarcerated:
IL: Two steps forward, one back
Catalyst Chicago – September 25, 2009
CPS is the third school district in the country to provide training for school social workers to help children of incarcerated parents. Other services have been hurt by budget cuts, but new federal funds may help.
National: Sidebar: A national overview on what’s being done to help children of the incarcerated
Catalyst Chicago– September 25, 2009
More mentoring programs across the country now include components that help children relate to their incarcerated parents, says Ann Adalist-Estrin, who directs the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated at the Family and Corrections Network. Mentors may help children write letters, or even take them on visits. This new emphasis reflects the reality of many children’s lives, Adalist-Estrin says. It is a marked advance from earlier years, when many such programs assumed these children were essentially parentless.
PA: Hurting convicts’ children
Philadelphia Inquirer – Nov. 16, 2009
Restrictive visiting hours at some of the region’s prisons make it unnecessarily difficult for children to maintain relationships with their incarcerated parents. This punishes the children and helps perpetuate a damaging cycle.
Below is Executive Director of The Osborne Association, Elizabeth Gaynes’, letter to the editor in response to this article.
To the Editor:
I want to applaud Renneth Grey for drawing attention to the negative impact of restrictive prison visiting hours on the children of incarcerated parents and the need to make such visits more accessible (Monday, Nov. 16, 2009). But I would also like to clarify one point. Ms. Grey states that the children of incarcerated parents “are more likely to participate in illegal behavior.” In fact, this is a misconception. While the incarceration of a parent can have profound consequences for a child—from feelings of grief, shame, and loss to poor school performance—there are no credible studies showing that children with a parent in prison or jail are more likely to commit a crime. And there is good reason to believe that maintaining a relationship with their parent offers children needed assurance and security in difficult times.
For more information on how children are affected by incarceration and what can be done to reduce the burden that children face when a parent goes to prison, please visit the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated Web site at fcnetwork.org.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Gaynes
Executive Director
The Osborne Association
809 Westchester Avenue
Bronx, NY 10455
718 707 2649
http://www.osborneny.org/