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Administration for Children and Families US Department of Health and Human Services
 HHS News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, July 19, 2004
Contact: Chris Downing
ACF Press Office (202) 401-9215

Tribal Groups to Receive $1.689 Million to
Provide Mentors for Children of Prisoners

HHS' Administration for Children and Families today announced $1.689 million in grants to five tribal organizations to train adult volunteers as mentors to children whose parents are incarcerated.  The grants are part of President George W. Bush’s plan to provide mentors for disadvantaged youth to help them as they grow into adulthood.

“Good mentors can help improve youth outcomes and provide incarcerated parents with the assurance that somebody is there to look after the best interests of their children,” said HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.

With no tribal grantees in the initial year of the program, HHS set aside five percent of the total available funds from the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program for tribes and tribal consortia. The number of American Indians per capita confined in state and federal prisons is about 38 percent above the national average.  The rate of confinement in local jails is estimated to be nearly four times the national average.

In addition, Native American inmates are often housed many miles from home in federal prisons. This distance makes regular visits from their children prohibitive.  Studies show that children with incarcerated parents have a seven times greater chance than the general population to become incarcerated themselves.

“This initiative aims to help one of the most underserved and disadvantaged groups among us,” said Dr. Wade F. Horn, HHS assistant secretary for children and families. “The grants we are announcing today present a real opportunity to help improve the lives of children who face great risks by offering them a mentor.”

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 their 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.

This list of grantees and the amount of their awards follow:

Total Awarded: $1,689,000

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news

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Last Updated: July 19, 2004