ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (ACF) PILOT PROJECT
TRACKING & SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN OF INMATES & PROBATION/PAROLEES IN PENNSYLVANIA - March 29, 2005
PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
There
are an estimated 250,000 children of Prisoners and Probation/Parolees
throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who are largely unaccounted
for.
These children are being left behind in the most
basic needs of their development which almost universally leads to
multiple failures and a high cost to society in areas such as increased
crime, use of drugs, alcohol abuse and incarceration. This program is
designed to rescue the children and direct them down a path towards
being a productive member of society rather than a “costly failure”.
Education:
Many potential problems affecting these children relative to their
education can arise as a result of their circumstances: Disruption of
classes and disciplinary problems, as an example.A very small number go
beyond high school to college or post-graduate studies. Generating
enthusiasm to learn and direct their intelligence towards a productive
life is a major goal of this project.
- Supervision:
These children are generally under the control of one parent, grand
parent or foster parent. They receive little or no supervision leaving
them to fend for themselves. This creates an atmosphere where they
naturally fall into relationships with the “wrong crowd” followed by
involvement in delinquency, crime, drugs and alcohol abuse. The program
will track supervision of the children with the intent of involving
them in positive programs such as sports, music, reading, etc.
- Medical:
Medical insurance is almost non-existent to this population. Preventive
medicine has been proven to be much more cost effective than dealing
with issues as they occur. When someone is ill, they are unproductive
as well. This program will coordinate medical and dental treatment for
the children, as well as verifying that they have access to all
medical/dental programs available to them in Pennsylvania.
- Nourishment:
Most of these children have a very poor diet and do not receive three
meals a day. They often come to school hungry. A child who is
undernourished will not be able to concentrate in school and will be
predisposed to illness. This program will work with social service
agencies and public agencies to insure that the children are receiving
wholesome, balanced meals three times a day.
- Rebuilding
of the Family Unit: As parents are being released from incarceration,
it is important to assess their potential for reintegration with their
family unit.? Parole and social service agencies must work together to
evaluate prior conditions such as physical and/or mental abuse,
abandonment issues, spousal and child support, etc. When conditions are
positive, efforts will be made to educate and prepare both the parent
and the children for the rebuilding process. A major part of this
program is to identify parents who potentially can reintegrate, insure
that the parent and children are prepared for this process and follow
through occurs to monitor the success/failure of the reunification.
These children represent a potential “lost generation” that are being predisposed to:
- A
life of poverty: When a person cannot qualify for a job due to poor
education or a lack of training, the natural inclination is to turn to
other ways of supporting themselves. All to often this involves
emulating the success they see on the streets in the form of drug
dealers who have a lot of money, drive big cars, wear fancy clothes,
etc.
- Drug and alcohol abuse: Frustration with
unemployment, poor self-esteem, feeling left behind, a sense of no
future often leads to dependence on drugs and alcohol as an escape
mechanism.
- A life of crime: A person who cannot feed, clothe or
house his or family becomes desperate. They most often turn to crime as
the only and easiest way to obtain the money they need to support
themselves and their families as well as their drug and alcohol
addictions.A natural outgrowth of this desperation is the use of
weapons to achieve their objectives and the resultant loss of life and
serious injuries along with the added costs to society as a whole.
- A
person who cannot feed, clothe or house his or family becomes
desperate.They most often turn to crime as the only and easiest way to
obtain the money they need to support themselves and their families as
well as their drug and alcohol addictions. A natural outgrowth of this
desperation is the use of weapons to achieve their objectives and the
resultant loss of life and serious injuries along with the added costs
to society as a whole.
- Underachievement: The majority
of criminals are bright individuals who could have gone on to college
and beyond with the proper motivation and direction. Instead they
receive negative input from very early in their life and develop poor
self-esteem. The result is that they under achieve in school, training
and success in family life.
The costs to society are
immeasurable. Early intervention has the potential of benefiting not
only these children, but also every level of our society.
What is required is:
- An
efficient method of tracking and identifying the children. Food For
Life utilizing its comprehensive case management software that they
have developed over sixteen years (now in its eighth version) will work
closely with participating governmental and private agencies to
identify the children in question and track their services and progress.
- Performing
needs assessments and referrals to appropriate agencies. ?Utilizing
standard psycho/social evaluations, family studies, school input, etc.,
appropriate agencies will be assigned responsibilities to work with the
children to deal with the issues of education, medical/dental care,
nourishment, and supervision that are critical to the success of this
program.
- Follow-through to monitor their progress.
?Utilizing the data gathered by Food For Life’s case management
software, it will be possible to monitor the progress of the children,
highlight their successes, identify weak areas, focus on improving
identified weak areas and increasing the overall success of the program
as it expands.
Parties involved should include:
Social workers and case managers, from all sectors inside penal
institutions, law enforcement, and local social service agencies. ?All
such agencies will be instructed in the use of the Client System data
entry. The time to set up a child in the software will take no more
than twenty minutes. Food for Life will outsource the data entry of
existing children to “jump start” this program using the files from the
Department of Corrections. Privacy concerns and sensitivity to
children’s’ needs to remain anonymous will be a high priority.
Food For Life will co-ordinate and communicate with: - The U.S. and Commonwealth Department of Education
- Cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Judiciary Committee
- Pennsylvania Department of Parole and Probation
- Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
- U.S. Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Prisons
- Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency
- County Prisons
- Bucks County
- Various County Officials
- Corporate Sponsors
- Food For Life
- Public/Private Ventures
- hiladelphia Department of Human Services
BACKGROUND
Food
For Life (FFL) is a non-profit organization which has dedicated its
services since 1983 to a variety of populations in need of residential
services:
- Homeless Shelters: Operated one of the first homeless shelters in Philadelphia from 1983-1998.
- Philadelphia’s first Homeless Shelter for women and children from 1986-1989.
- First
Philadelphia Homeless Shelter for Veterans in conjunction with HUD, the
Veterans Administration and the City of Philadelphia from 1994-1999.
- 250
Residents of the Department of Corrections, Bureau of Probation/Parole,
Bureau of Community Corrections halfway houses, and the Federal Bureau
of Prisons halfway house from 1990 to 2003.
- A
successful program in Florida, with the Administration on Aging (AOA),
for the elderly designed to keep them in their homes rather than in a
nursing home by coordinating and providing meals-on-wheels, home aides,
minor home repairs, transportation to shopping and medical/dental
visits.
- Those on Probation and Parole in the Philadelphia area.
- A
Shelter Plus Care program funded by HUD, to provide transitional
housing for Disabled Veterans moving from homelessness, to shelters, to
transitional housing and finally to independent living.
FFL’s
mission is to create complete environments for rehabilitation that will
mutually benefit its’ clients and society by moving individuals to
self-sufficiency and independent living. During the course of working
with various social service programs FFL developed the “Client System”
web-based software which is a secure, multi-user, interactive,
full-featured client information tracking and case management system.
Client System has been in existence since 1989 and now in its eighth
generation, is a Web-based application. FFL has used this application
for over 10 years in running their Community Corrections Centers.
Currently used in Halfway Houses, Drug and Alcohol Treatment
facilities, the largest Homeless Shelter in Philadelphia and programs
for the Elderly.
Food For Life and its partners will
track all children of Prisoners in Pennsylvania, in state and county
prisons, as well as those on Probation and Parole.
All
indications point conservatively to 250,000 children of Prisoners and
Parolees in the Commonwealth who are largely left to fend for
themselves. Most of these children live in poverty in a climate rife
with crime and drug and alcohol abuse. As a direct result of not having
a nurturing family unit to rely upon, their role models may be criminal
elements that they will most likely emulate.
Insuring
that these children are actively monitored and supported is a necessary
step to insure that they are on a track to learn important life lessons
and prepare for a future free of crime, and drug and alcohol abuse.
TECHNICAL APPROACHES
No
method currently exists to identify and track these children to insure
that they are not lost in the system. Food For Life’s web-based
software will afford the means for identifying and tracking the
children by a variety of concerned and involved agencies whose combined
goals will be to see these children succeed rather than fail in life.
No
method currently exists to identify and track these children to insure
that they are not lost in the system. Food For Life’s web-based
software will afford the means for identifying and tracking the
children by a variety of concerned and involved agencies whose combined
goals will be to see these children succeed rather than fail in life. A
critical link in this process is the Children-to-Parent relationship
and the educational component needs to be monitored closely, once
identified and assessed.? Existing services and providers can be linked
to those children.
RELEVANCE TO ACF GOALS/OBJECTIVES
The
following major types of Child Abuse, as stated by the Administration
for Children and Families would be addressed in this program:
Neglect is failure to provide for a child's basic needs. Neglect may be: - Physical (e.g., failure to provide necessary food or shelter, or lack of appropriate supervision)
- Medical (e.g., failure to provide necessary medical or mental health treatment)
Educational (e.g., failure to educate a child or attend to special education needs) Emotional
(e.g., inattention to a child's emotional needs, failure to provide
psychological care, or permitting the child to use alcohol or other
drugs)
By intervening in these basic needs,
providing the stated needs and tracking the progress of the programs,
the savings to society would be immeasurable in terms of:
Reduced Crime Reduced use of Drugs/Alcohol Reduction in costs of Incarceration Integration of the targeted children into mainstream American through education, meaningful jobs and close family ties Improved self esteem
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Food
For Life will input files on existing children at a rate of 10,000 per
month and initiate tracking the children at the time of their parent’s
incarceration, utilizing secure, HIPAA compliant, Internet based
software, and incorporating the following areas of concern:
Notifying all agencies involved relative
to their areas of concern and responsibilities. - Establish and maintain family support. In conjunction with existing organizations such as “Lakeside Youth Services” in Fort Washington, PA.
- Parental skills assessment.
Proposed Implementation Plan timetable:
1. 1st Month – Obtain commitment from all interested parties as listed on the attached Memorandum of Understanding.
2. Months 1 to 3 – Develop web site “Child First” to educate the public and disseminate information.
3.
Month 1 to 17 – Make software programming modifications to maximize the
integrity and efficiency of data collection, i.e. touch screen
interface, consolidation of data entry screens, importing existing
databases.
4. Month 1 through 17 - Work with media to
promote awareness of the program and its value to the affected children
and society as a whole.
5. 2nd Month – Set up trial database of 400 children to initiate the program.
6. 3rd Month – Obtain support and funding from various government, corporate and foundation sources.
7. 3rd through 15th Months - Attend conferences dealing with Child Welfare, Department of Corrections, Parole & Probation, etc.
8. 3rd Month - Submit quarterly audit to ACF identifying weak areas and submitting reports to all agencies concerned.
9. 4th & 5th Months - Identify a core group of 10,000 children and gather necessary data for input.
10. 6th Month through 12th Month - Input data at rate of 10,000 per month.
11. 6th Month - Submit quarterly audit to ACF identifying weak areas and submitting reports to all agencies concerned.
12. 7th Month - Obtain support and funding from various government, corporate and foundation sources.
13. 8th Month - Flag children requiring intervention by local agencies and establish numerical rating system for sub-categories.
14. 9th Month - Submit quarterly audit to ACF identifying weak areas and submitting reports to all agencies concerned.
15. 10th Month - Provide progress reports to various government, corporate and foundation sources.
16. 11th Month – Review and refine database for collection and auditing of data.
17. 12th Month - Perform quarterly audit identifying weak areas and submitting reports to all agencies concerned.
18. 12th Month - Submit annual report to ACF showing results of program to date.
19. 13th & 14th
Months - Coordinate meeting with agencies performing services to
determine success of program, identify areas requiring strengthening
and share techniques employed to achieve maximum success.
20. 15th Month - Perform quarterly audit identifying weak areas and submitting reports to all agencies concerned.
21. 16th Month – Evaluate data collection and tracking.? Recommend methods to improve process.
22. 17th
Month - Submit final audit on project’s successes and shortcomings to
ACF and all interested agencies.? Make recommendations and submit
proposal for creation of nationwide program.
ONGOING QUARTERLY AUDITS
Food
For Life will work with private auditors to provide quarterly audits of
the data insuring compliance with the child tracking system.
Food
For Life will work with private auditors to provide quarterly audits of
the data insuring compliance with the child tracking system. Food For Life will make ongoing recommendations regarding failures identified.
Identified
failures and/or concerns will be immediately reported to the “governing
agency” as well as relevant service provider agencies.
Follow up reports to insure compliance with procedures will be submitted on a timely basis, as needed or required.
DHS INVOLVEMENT
Identify immediately those at risk and in need of this program.
Utilize existing experience in working with children and families.
Coordinate crossover and overlapping services.
Use data and statistics gathered to identify and secure additional financial resources and support of participating agencies.
PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Seek Government, Corporate and Foundation funding by promoting the need and value to society of sponsoring this vital program. All
interested parties will create a public awareness campaign “Children
Are Victims” in order to encourage mentoring programs designed to help
the children of incarcerated and paroled individuals. The goal will be
to help them with their schooling, during psychologically difficult
times such as holidays, and other identified areas of need. Utilize the Ad Council style of promoting the program. Enlist the participation and support of Government Agencies and Political leaders. Include links on “interested” Web Sites to the program’s web site. Hold quarterly events to showcase the program and its successes. “Piggy Back” on other child related events throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and other organizational activities.
Seek Government, Corporate and Foundation funding by promoting the need and value to society of sponsoring this vital program.
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Solutions 
