Family & Corrections Network
The
Second North American Conference on
Fathers Behind Bars and on the Street
November 6-8, 2002 St. Louis, MO
National Grant Program for Mentoring
Children of Incarcerated Parents
by Arlene Lee
In 2001, Congress created (P.L. 107-133) a new competitive national discretionary grant program to support the expansion and operation of mentoring and mentoring services for children with incarcerated parents in federal, state, or local correctional facilities.
Until recently, children with incarcerated parents have not received attention as a special population with unique needs. Many factors have combined to hide them from view including systemic issues, as well as the shame and stigma associated with incarceration. In the meantime, this is a growing population:
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More than 2 million children have a parent who is currently incarcerated.
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Millions more have experienced the incarceration of a parent at some point in their lives.
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From 1990-2001 the number of female prisoners increased 114%, and by June 30, 2001, women accounted for 6.7% of all U.S. prisoners. On any given day, more than 100,000 women are being held in this country’s jails and prisons.
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Six percent of women entering prison are pregnant. Incarcerated women are often the sole caregivers of their children.
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Prior to incarceration in state prison, 64% of women and 44% of men lived with their children.
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Nearly 90% of children with incarcerated fathers live with their mothers.
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79% of children with incarcerated mothers live with their grandparent or relative.
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Approximately 4.5% of children are in foster care due to parental incarceration.
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Approximately 10% of the children of female prisoners and 2% of the children of male prisoners are in a foster home or institution.
The extent to which a child will be affected by the incarceration of a parent depends on a number of variables, including the age at which the parent-child separation occurs, length of the separation, health of the family, disruptiveness of the incarceration, child's familiarity with the new caregiver, strength of the parent-child relationship, previous separations, nature of the parent's crime, length of sentence, availability of family or community support, and degree of stigma that the community associates with incarceration. Given these variations, some common results are known.
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Separation is always traumatic for children.
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Trauma diverts children from developmental tasks.
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Children's response to trauma will vary according to age.
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Children's reactions will vary over time.
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The trauma of parental incarceration has unique features.
The mentoring program created by Congress in 2001 to meet the needs of these children, was authorized for $67 million in FY 2002 - 2003 and such sums as necessary in the fiscal years through 2006. Of the funds appropriated, 2.5% are set aside for research, evaluation, and technical assistance.
Funding, however, is subject to an annual appropriation. In FY 2002, no funds were provided. In his FY 2003 budget request to Congress, President Bush included $25 million for this program. On July 18, 2002, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $12 million in FY 2003 funding for the program. The House of Representatives will take action on this soon.
If funded, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may award grants of up to $5 million to state, local, tribal, tribal consortia, and faith- and community-based organizations that have significant populations of children with incarcerated parents.
The grant programs must use networks of public and private community entities to provide mentoring services.
Mentoring is defined as a structured, managed program in which children are matched with screened and trained adult volunteers for one-on-one relationships, meetings, and activities on a regular basis. Services may also include screening of eligible children, training, and outreach to children and other local organizations.
In awarding grants, HHS will take into consideration four factors: the capacity and qualifications of the applicant; the severity of need in the area covered; evidence of consultation; and other factors that HHS deems significant. Grantees will be required to provide a 25% match for each of the first two years of the grant and a 50% match in subsequent years. The non-federal share can be in cash or in-kind as determined by HHS.
Application requirements include a description of the local public and private organizations that are participating; the name, description, and qualifications of the coordinating entity; the number of mentor-child matches; and other information HHS may require to determine recruitment, screening, and oversight in and of the program. Applicants are required to consult with public and private community entities, including religious organizations, Indian tribal organizations, urban tribal organizations, and family members of potential recipients. Coordination is required with other local, state, and federal programs that serve children and youth, and consultation is required with appropriate local, state, and federal corrections, workforce development, mental health, and substance abuse agencies. HHS is required to conduct an evaluation of the programs and submit it to Congress by April 15, 2005.
Contact Arlene Lee, CWLA’s Director, Federal Resource Center for Children of Prisoners, at 202/639-4939 or alee@cwla.org.