FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, October 3, 2003
Contact: Chris Downing
ACF Press Office (202) 401-9215
HHS Awards Nearly $9 Million to Support Mentoring Programs
for Children of Prisoners
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson
today announced nearly $9 million in grants to 52 organizations to train adult
volunteers as mentors to children whose parents are incarcerated. These grants
are part of President Bush’s plan to provide mentors for disadvantaged youth
to help them as they grow into adulthood.
“Mentors offer love,
guidance and encouragement to the children they connect with,” Secretary
Thompson said. “This program will give children whose parents are incarcerated
the support they need as they face the day-to-day challenges of growing up.”
Between 1991 and 1999, the
number of children with a parent in a federal or state correctional facility increased
by more than 100 percent, from about 900,000 to about 2,000,000. Fewer than 50
percent of prisoners receive regular visits from their children, either because
the children’s caregiver chooses not to visit or because the distance is
prohibitive. Studies show that children with incarcerated parents have a seven
times greater chance than the general population to become incarcerated themselves.
The grantee organizations
will receive referrals from parents, caretakers, schools, courts, social services
agencies or religious organizations. They will train and match mentors with children
from age four to 15. They will also screen all potential mentors for child and
domestic abuse and other criminal history.
Mentors will be required
to make at least a one-year commitment and to meet at least once weekly with his
or her child. They will also be encouraged to form a relationship with the whole
family in order to ease the transition when the incarcerated parent is released.
The grantees will monitor and assist the mentors on an ongoing basis.
“I believe this is
one of the most important set of grants we will award this year,” said Wade
F. Horn, Ph.D., assistant secretary for children and families. “Connecting
young people whose parents are in prison with mentors at this critical time in
their lives should really make a lasting positive difference.”
This list of grantees and
the amount of their awards follow:
MENTORING CHILDREN OF PRISONERS
FISCAL YEAR 2003 GRANTEES
Organization |
City |
State |
Award |
Alabama
Attorney
General's
Office |
Montgomery |
AL |
$461,568
|
Center
For Youth and Families, Inc |
Little
Rock |
AR |
$525,000
|
MatchPoint
of Arizona, Inc. |
Phoenix |
AZ |
$75,000
|
Pima Prevention
Partnership |
Tucson |
AZ |
$195,000 |
Centerforce,
Inc |
San
Rafael |
CA |
$70,000 |
Governor's
Office of Criminal Justice Planning |
Sacramento |
CA |
$270,000 |
Northern
Valley Catholic Social Services |
Redding |
CA |
$120,000 |
Path of
Life Ministries |
Riverside |
CA |
$480,000 |
San Diego
Youth and Community Services, Inc |
San
Diego |
CA |
$150,000
|
Denver
County Area Youth Services |
Denver |
CO |
$100,000 |
Governor's
Partnership to Protect Connecticut; Workforce, Inc. |
Hartford |
CT |
$225,000 |
Nutmeg
Big Brothers Big Sisters |
Hartford |
CT |
$270,000 |
Big Brothers
Big Sisters of DE, Inc |
Wilmington |
DE |
$82,500 |
Hawaii
Youth Services Network |
Honolulu |
HI |
$165,000 |
Franklin
Williamson Human Services, Inc |
West
Frankfort |
IL |
$75,000 |
Indiana
Behavioral Health Choices, Inc. |
Indianapolis |
IN |
$172,500
|
YMCA of
Greater Louisville |
Louisville |
KY |
$52,500 |
Community
Service Center, Inc. |
New
Orleans |
LA |
$62,500 |
Breaking
the Chains Foundation |
Hyattsville |
MD |
$120,000 |
Center
for Children |
LaPlata |
MD |
$47,044 |
US Dream
Academy, Inc. |
Columbia |
MD |
$420,000 |
Volunteers
of America Northern New England |
Brunswick |
ME |
$120,000 |
Alternatives
for Girls |
Detroit |
MI |
$100,000
|
Volunteers
in Prevention, Probation, and Prisons, Inc |
Detroit
|
MI |
$240,000 |
Search
Institute |
Minneapolis |
MN |
$150,000 |
Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri |
St.
Louis |
MO |
$193,500
|
Missoula
County |
Missoula |
MT |
$60,000
|
Montana
Human Resources Development Council Directors |
Bozeman |
MT |
$112,500 |
Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Greater Charlotte |
Charlotte |
NC |
$238,500 |
Chatham
County Together! |
Pittsboro |
NC |
$30,000
|
Girl Scouts
of Rolling Hills Council |
North
Branch |
NJ |
$60,000 |
San Juan
County Partnership, Inc. |
Farmington |
NM |
$200,000 |
Center
For Community Alternatives, Inc |
Syracuse |
NY |
$150,000 |
Edwin Gould
Services for Children and Families |
New
York |
NY |
$75,000 |
The Osborne
Association, Inc |
Long
Island City |
NY |
$75,000
|
Big Brothers
Big Sisters Association of Central Ohio, Inc. |
Columbus |
OH |
$256,932 |
Little
Dixie Community Action Agency |
Hugo
|
OK |
$60,000 |
Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Metropolitan Portland |
Portland
|
OR |
$105,000
|
Committed
Partners for Youth |
Eugene |
OR |
$75,000
|
Deschutes
County |
Bend |
OR
|
$62,500
|
Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Southeastern PA |
Philadelphia |
PA |
$450,000 |
Big Brothers/Big
Sisters of Bucks County, Inc |
Jamison |
PA |
$82,000
|
Pittsburgh
Leadership Foundation |
Pittsburgh |
PA |
$180,000 |
The Salvation
Army, a New York Corporation |
Philadelphia
|
PA |
$95,000 |
Big Brothers
Big Sisters, Alamo Area |
San
Antonio |
TX |
$487,500 |
City of
Longview |
Longview
|
TX
|
$175,000 |
Montgomery
County Youth Services, Inc |
Conroe |
TX |
$75,000
|
South Plains
Community Action Association, Inc. |
Levelland |
TX |
$90,000
|
Center
For Multicultural Human Services |
Falls
Church |
VA |
$100,000 |
Girl Scouts-Totem
Council |
Seattle |
WA |
$67,500 |
Volunteers
of America Western Washington |
Everett
|
WA |
$165,000
|
Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Metropolitan Milwaukee |
Milwaukee
|
WI |
$400,000
|
Total Awarded: $8,869,544
###
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available
at www.hhs.gov/news
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