1. Adding an evidence-based family strengthening program
to reentry services for fathers
Background
Mindy E. Scott, Lacey Morris, Heather Fish
Next Steps
Characteristics of Reentering Fathers and their Families*
Child Trends is conducting an experimental evaluation to examine the impact of adding an evidence-based parenting program, the Strengthening Family Program (SFP), to reentry services for parents leaving prison in Chicago, IL. Working with the Safer Foundation, which provides a range of services for people with criminal records, the study will test whether this intervention reduces recidivism, improves family functioning, and improves child well-being among a vulnerable population of reentering fathers with children ages
More than half of the 1.5 million incarcerated adults are parents of minor children, meaning that hundreds of thousands of parents are released from incarceration facilities each year.
The vast majority of incarcerated parents are male (93%).
Father imprisonment disrupts father-child relationships; alters the network of familial support; and increases the likelihood that children of incarcerated individuals will also wind up involved in the criminal justice system.
Test for program impacts by comparing outcomes for treatment and control families
Father outcomes: Recidivism,
engagement, employment, mental health Caregiver outcomes: Co-parenting,
engagement
Child outcomes: Delinquency, academic
engagement, relationships with parents
Analyze qualitative data from the implementation study to: identify strengths and challenges of the SFP intervention; inform program adaptations for reentry population; provide context to impact analyses
Implementation data collection: focus groups with fathers and caregivers; staff interviews; program observations
80 fathers, 55 caregivers, and 80 children enrolled in the SFP evaluation between November 2013 and December 2015.
On average, fathers were 41 years old and children were 12 years old. The race and ethnicity of fathers served was predominately African American (84%) and Hispanic/Latino (10%). Only one-quarter of fathers were employed at enrollment. 58% of participating children were daughters.
Implications
Knowledge gained will help the criminal justice system, social service agencies, health care providers and communities work collaboratively to better meet the needs of reentering fathers and their families.
Findings will also guide children and youth services policymakers, as more than five million U.S. children have had at least one parent in prison at one time or another.
By determining the strengths and weaknesses of a proven program adapted to the reentry context, the research has the potential to identify a program model and best practices that could be adapted by correction and family service program operators across the nation.
SFP Evaluation Objectives
Objective 1: To conduct an outcomes evaluation to determine the short- and long-term impact of a parenting intervention designed for reentering fathers to rebuild relationships with their children on father well-being and child well-being .
Objective 2: To conduct a process evaluation that will provide context, clarification and understanding of the outcome evaluation results in the context of reentry, and an opportunity to replicate and extend practices that work best with reentering fathers.
*Characteristics were captured at baseline.