RESOURCES FOR MOTHER-CHILD COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS By: Mary K. Shilton The Mother-Child Community Corrections Project International Community Corrections Association P.O. Box 1987 La Crosse, WI 54602 This project was supported by cooperative agreement 2000-DD-VX-0015 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent official positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Guide was developed with the assistance of The Mother-Child Community Corrections Project Team Judy Berman, Center for Effective Public Policy Karen Chapple, International Community Corrections Association Phyllis Modley, National Institute of Corrections Becki Ney, Center for Effective Public Policy Mary Shilton, International Community Corrections Association Richard A. Sutton, Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice PROJECT ADVISORY GROUP Karen Asphaug, First Judicial District, Hastings, MN Sandra Barnhill, Aid to Children of Imprisoned Mothers, Atlanta, GA Evvie Becker, Ph.D., Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C Carl C. Bell, M.D., Community Mental Health Council, Chicago, IL Barbara Bloom Ph.D. CSU, Dept. of Criminal Justice, Petaluma, CA Barbara Broderick, Arizona Supreme Court Admin. Office of the Courts, Phoenix, AZ Patsy L. Buida, M.S.W., Children’s Bureau, Washington, D.C. Sonia L. Burgos, Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. Ellen Clark, Western Carolinians for Criminal Justice, Women at Risk program, Ashville, NC Stephanie S. Covington, Ph.D., Institute for Relational Development, La Jolla, CA Teresa Fabi, Kings County District Attorney’s Office, Brooklyn, NY Mindy Feldbaum, U.S. Dept. of Labor, Washington, DC Katherine Gabel, Casey Family Foundation Program, Pasadena CA Joan B. Gillece, Ph.D., Maryland Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene Admin., Baltimore, MD Aurie Hall, Open Society Institute, Baltimore, MD M. Kay Harris, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA -iii- Leo Hayden, National Center for Violence Interruption, Chicago, IL James A. Hemm, New Jersey Association on Correction, Trenton, NJ Talmira Hill, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD Mary Hughes, Kings County District Attorney’s Office, Brooklyn, NY Ann L. Jacobs, Women’s Prison Association and Home, Inc. New York, NY Susan L. Jacobs, J.D. Legal Action Center, New York, NY John M. Jeffries, Ph.D. Vera Institute of Justice, New York, NY Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez, Dept. Of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC James Lawrence, Oriana House, Inc. Akron, OH Dennis Lieberman, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC Valerie Martin, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, Washington, DC Terrie McDermott, Dept. of Women’s Justice Services, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Chicago, IL Sue Osthoff, National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women, Philadelphia, PA Michael Petit , Child Welfare League of America, Washington, DC Myrna Raeder, J.D., Southwestern University School of Law, Los Angeles, CA Cynthia Seymour, Child Welfare League of America, Washington, DC Ulonda B. Shamwell, Department of Heath and Human Services SAMHSA, Rockville, MD Brenda V. Smith, J.D. American University School of Law, Washington, DC Dolores Elizabeth Thornton, Taconic Correctional Facility, Bedford Hills, NY Melval Tuggle Owens, R.N., Ph.D. Department of Health and Human Services, Bel Air, MD S. Anne Walker, Alston Wilkes Society, Columbia, SC TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Research and technical assistance were provided by Katheryn Flynn, Katherine Kosloske, and Katherine Shilton -iv- TABLE OF CONTENTS I. About Mother-Child Programs……………..........................…........................................……1 II. About Resources...........................................................................................................…….9 III. Resources for Child and Parent Development.................................................................….15 IV. Gender, Cultural and Ethnic Diversity Resources...……......................................................35 V. Educational Resources……………......................................................................................47 VI. Employment and Career Development Resources...............................................................55 VII. Health and Human Services References...........................…..............................................69 VIII. Housing Assistance…................................................................................................…..95 IX. Justice and Legal System Sources..............................................................................……103 X. Policy, Research and Evaluation ……….......................................................……………...129 XI. Foundation Resources ……………………………………………………………………139 -v- I. About Mother-Child Programs The Mother-Child Community Corrections Project has prepared this Resource Directory for program managers, agencies and individuals who are involved in planning, developing and implementing programs that serve mothers who have been under criminal-justice supervision--or diverted from the justice system-- and their children. These programs often are called mother-child community corrections programs, although local programs are known by many other names as well. They may be halfway houses, shelter plus aftercare, drug or mental health treatment facilities and women’s health initiatives. Such programs are most often multi- disciplinary efforts that combine criminal justice supervision or diversion from prison with an array of services. These include health, education, and social services; substance abuse programs; job training and counseling; family- and child-support services; and other existing community resources. Such programs generally include a variety of government agencies as well as private non-profit, religious and community organizations. Why we assembled this directory This piece aims to serve nearly a million American women who are currently under criminal justice supervision, their young children, and the agencies that serve them. In 1998, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that there were more than 951,000 women under supervision. (Lawrence Greenfield and Tracy Snell, Women Offenders, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, December 1999, Revised 10/3/2000, NCJ 175688). Through research, interviews, and contact with programs and professionals in the field, the Mother Child Community Corrections Project team identified funding, technical assistance and training resources as top priorities. Those interviewed and providing information identified a need to know more about assistance available from non-criminal justice areas, such as child development, health care and legal sources. This directory gathers many sources of assistance in one place. What do we know about existing mother-child programs? Many different programs serve exclusively female offenders and their children. None are identical, although many contain common goals, components, and techniques. Several began as extensions of visitation or prison-nursery programs. Some developed in halfway houses or in alternative sentencing-diversion programs for women who would be confined for less than a year. Others grew out of probation or parole programs. More recently, programs that reach out to substance- abusing women have operated in conjunction with district attorney’s offices, drug courts, community substance abuse treatment, mental health, and other social service providers. In other instances, churches and religious organizations developed services for these mothers and their children. MCCC programs are not without significant problems. There is a dearth of research about the effectiveness of such programs. Some efforts have been short-lived, and many have experienced disruptions in management and financial backing. A few exist hand-to-mouth, struggle to meet payrolls and live up to local and state standards. Still, the reported results are promising, and most home communities remain committed to the programs’ success. This directory was developed for the following purposes: · To encourage those interested in mother-child programs to learn more about available resources and assistance; · To acquaint readers with the variety of resources available across the social service, health, education and criminal justice domains related to mother-child programs; Chapter 1, Page 1 · to familiarize users with various alternative strategies for using available resources to develop effective programs; · to help mother-child projects identify approaches in the various domains that are emerging as best practices and to gain access to assessment, evaluation, research and educational materials to help their programs become more effective. The Mother-Child Community Corrections Resource Directory identifies selected resources to help program planners access tools, materials and funding to improve their services. Some of these serve correctional managers and providers; some are geared to child-development experts and parents; still others operate in the area of health, drug treatment, employment, and business development. Some are advocacy groups; others are educational, research, governmental or civic organizations with targeted audiences. Scope of the problem There are a variety of correctional programs struggling to address public safety and the needs of women under