Child and Family Wellness Project Overview

 
Children of incarcerated parents are often the most vulnerable of at-risk youth; with the number of youth impacted by this issue continuing to grow. The U. S. Department of Justice reports that in 2007, there were approximately 1.7 million children with a parent currently in a correctional facility.

In 2007, the Child and Family Wellness Project (CFWP), was developed by the Council on Crime and Justice to begin to address this issue and test a holistic model that works to improve the life chances of youth impacted by incarceration. For the majority of 2008, the project was referred to as C-DREAMS, with the name changed to the Child and Family Wellness Project in late 2008/early 2009.

The project’s core belief is that to improve the life of an at-risk youth, you must engage the whole family system, while bringing together community assets to support the families. This in turn will create environments conducive for healthy family functioning. Healthy youth and families can then promote health within the communities in which the live, reaping benefits for all.

Project Goals:
• To strengthen the pre-existing assets of highly marginalized children and families impacted by incarceration.
• To prevent the intergenerational chain of incarceration.
• To increase decision-making and conflict resolution skills for youth and families.
• To increase school attendance, performance, and parent engagement in the child’s education.
• To improve family functioning and goal realization through the connection to supportive assets.

Major Activities:
There are five major activities conducted with the families:

1. Family Wellness Assessment/Case Advocacy
Upon entering the project, each mother, child and caregiver will complete an assessment to identify areas that require attention, including (but not limited to) basic needs, school performance issues, and mental/physical health. This information will then be used to inform case advocacy services for all participants.

2. Connection to Supportive Assets
Based upon the results of the assessment, the children and families are connected to supportive community assets including mentors, tutors, enrichment activities and support groups. During the period of the mother’s incarceration, CFWP staff will work with Department of Corrections (DOC) case managers to ensure she has access to all supports available inside the facility.

3. Goal Planning
Typically, incarcerated women are provided with one week of transition planning prior their release. The goal planning completed through the CFWP will allow the mothers to define their reintegration goals and to begin their transition plans months before their release. Individual plans are also developed with each child and act as a ‘road map’ in directing their path towards achieving self-defined short and long term goals. Although the children live in situations that are largely outside of their control, the planning empowers the children by allowing them to make decisions regarding matters within their control.

4. Family Circles
Family circles are facilitated sessions with individual families designed to improve conflict resolution and communication skills and to create healthy environments in the home. The circles allow each family member the opportunity to discuss any issues they feel have impacted or are impacting the health of the family. This activity is conducted with the mother, child and their caregiver inside of the facility at the beginning of their participation in the project and prior to the mother’s release and upon her reintegration back into the family.

5. Community Circles
The eight week community educational curriculum, which is designed around community circles, provides information and skill building opportunities in the areas of healthy relationships, self esteem, community engagement, decision making, conflict resolution, school success, personal goal setting and the importance of financial self-sufficiency. Separate circles are conducted for the mother, the children and the caregivers to allow for age appropriate conversations.

After the family finishes the community circles, monitoring and improving the connections to the supportive assets takes place. Evaluations of the effectiveness of the program for each child, including a follow up assessment, are also conducted.

***New Components of the Project***
Partnership with the Shakopee Women’s Prison: Starting in the summer of 2009, we will expand our programming to serve youth whose mothers are incarcerated at the Shakopee Women’s Prison. Staff will conduct informational sessions and meet mothers housed in the Chemical Dependency Unit who are interested in participating with the project. Once the child and his or her caregiver agree to participate, the five major activities will be carried out, with some variances. This will ensure continued positive contact between the mother and her child/family, and will work to ease her transition back into the family unit once her sentence is completed.

Literacy Program: Starting in the summer of 2009, the Child and Family Wellness Project will be expanding the program to provide literacy tutors for children participating in the project, who are in need of assistance with their reading and/or writing skills. The volunteer tutors will work one-to-one, for 2-3 hours/week. If you would like more information, or are interested in volunteering, please contact Erin Dickmeyer via e-mail at dickmeyere@crimeandjustice.org.

Contact Information:
Council on Crime and Justice
Child and Family Wellness Project
822 South 3rd Street
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Project Coordinator: Zayed Lamu
Email: lamuz@crimeandjustice.org

Additional Resources:
The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs, and Marguerite Casey Foundation’s Children of Incarcerated Parents Fact Sheet (2008):

Council on Crime and Justice’s Children of Incarcerated Parents Study (2006):