Brief
This issue brief highlights the benefits of increasing the use of community-based alternatives for youth rather than incarceration in Illinois. It explains the use of incarceration has consequences that leave youth more likely to commit another crime and less likely to succeed in school, find employment, and become financially secure in the long run. It notes community-based approaches that promote rehabilitation are less expensive and that evidence-based therapies delivered in the community can reduce recidivism rates by more than 15% while helping youth remain in their community. Steps for…
This book summarizes the current research on children whose parents are incarcerated, and discusses the implications of those findings for policy and intervention. It uses a developmental perspective to integrate theory with research and delineates how both resilience processes and contextual factors shape experiences and outcomes for children whose lives are affected by the incarceration of a parent. Following a chapter on multidisciplinary perspectives on research and intervention with children of incarcerated parents, Part 1 discusses background information and current trends in service…
This report begins by urging support for the reauthorization of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), legislation that will encourage communities to engage juvenile offenders in programs proven to help steer them away from a life of crime. The report then reviews the current situation resulting from placing juvenile offenders in residential facilities with other troubled youth, including a cost of more than $5 billion to keep juvenile offenders in facilities. The benefits of providing community services and family coaching to juvenile offenders is discussed, and…
Brief
The second in a series that addresses important issues facing those crossover youth who are dually-involved and the systems that serve them, this brief begins by explaining the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM) was developed by the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy to improve outcomes for youth who are dually-involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The model uses a research-based approach to assist child welfare, juvenile justice, and related agencies in adopting policies and practices that better…
This chapter discusses the need for interventions that bring fathers and paternal family members to the table in child protection efforts, and shares a case study from Vermont that illustrates how restorative justice can be used in family group meetings to challenge totalizing characterizations of fathers and men and help social workers partner with families and collaboration with their professional colleagues to create balanced assessment’s and manage risks. 64 references.
Brief
This research brief shares findings from an evaluation of the Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Reentering Fathers and Their Partners (MFS-IP), a program that funded services to support families in which one parent was incarcerated or recently released. The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) within the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provided up to $500,000 per year for five years to twelve grantees. OFA's family strengthening initiative required grantees to work with both…
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Journal Article This article introduces a successful reading program, Family Connections, for incarcerated parents and their children. A comprehensive review of the literature supports the need to implement prison programs from an ecological perspective, in which the needs of inmates and their families are considered. More specifically, the benefits of directing resources toward the establishment of reading programs in prisons and jails for inmates and their children are discussed. The Family Connections program is aimed at improving inmates' parental skills and attributes. The article also includes the…
The Department of Health and Human Services Peer Technical Assistance Network sponsored a roundtable discussion to share ideas about programs to strengthen families who are separated by parental incarceration. Government officials, service providers, and practitioners from Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma reviewed trends in incarceration and discussed solutions to common challenges. Prisoner re-entry, recidivism, and the impact of incarceration on children and parents specifically were discussed. Attendees noted the need to focus on nurturing stability in dysfunctional…
The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network held a roundtable in November 2003 to discuss best practices for strengthening families separated by parental incarceration. Participants reviewed national trends and examined the components of state initiatives designed to reduce recidivism and alleviate the negative impact of parental incarceration on children. Emphasis was placed on improving parenting skills and nurturing parent-child relationships. This final report summarizes the challenges identified by programs, such as the lack of family stability, limited parenting skills, child support…
Brief
This handbook provides a guide to incarcerated parents, prison administrators and staff members, and child development and parent education professionals interested in developing and running parenting education and support programs for incarcerated parents. It also discusses the impact of incarceration on all family members, and the importance of considering that impact when establishing prison policies, developing priorities for funding, and delivering services to prisoners and their families. (Author abstract)
