Designed to assist advocates for nonresident fathers in child welfare cases, this checklist provides tips for representing incarcerated nonresident fathers in child welfare cases. Strategies for advocates are explained and include: know the Adoption and Safe Families Act's timeframes and how they may impact a client; learn laws regarding the father's rights to participate in hearings and visitation, and incarcerations as a basis to terminate parental rights; guide the father through the process by regular in-person and written communication; work with the child welfare agency to involve the…
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Journal Article We investigated children and families who were participating in a mentoring program targeting children with incarcerated parents. Using multiple methods and informants, we explored the development of the mentoring relationship, challenges and benefits of mentoring children with incarcerated parents, and match termination in 57 mentor-child dyads. More than one-third of matches terminated during the first 6 months of participation. For those matches that continued to meet, however, children who saw their mentors more frequently exhibited fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms. In…
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Journal Article A study was conducted of 51 Georgia offenders who were substance abusers and fathers to 130 children. Findings indicate that despite their lack of participation in hands-on fathering, offenders cited children as one of their biggest motivators for success upon release. The majority wanted to re-connect with their children and to become both a good role model and a meaningful part of their children's lives. 4 references.
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Journal Article Although much research has focused on how imprisonment transforms the life course of disadvantaged black men, researchers have paid little attention to how parental imprisonment alters the social experience of childhood. This article estimates the risk of parental imprisonment by age 14 for black and white children born in 1978 and 1990. This article also estimates the risk of parental imprisonment for children whose parents did not fi nish high school, fi nished high school only, or attended college. Results show the following: (1) 1 in 40 white children born in 1978 and 1 in 25 white…
Brief
Little is known empirically about the implications of parental incarceration for children. This policy brief summarizes research examining the effects of paternal incarceration on several measures of children's school readiness, identifies circumstances that increase or mitigate children's risk, and identifies family processes that mediate incarceration's effects, presenting opportunities for policy and service intervention. (Author abstract modified)