Parenting Connection

Volume 9 Issue 1 July/August2012

Parenting Inside OutDemonstrates Impact

The mission of the Children's Justice Alliance, a program of Pathfinders of Oregon, is to improve outcomes for children whose parents are involved in the criminal justice system. One of the means the Children's Justice Alliance uses to accomplish its mission is the Parenting Inside Out curriculum designed specifically for criminal justice-involved parents to help them break the cycle of criminality.Theprison version of the Parenting Inside Outprogram is an evidence-based parenting skills training program that is appropriate for both incarcerated mothers and incarcerated fathers who are parenting from prison. The community version is appropriate for parents on parole or probation.

Curriculum

Parenting Inside Outis acognitive-behavioral parent management skills training program created for incarcerated parents through a six-year collaboration of scientists, policy makers, practitioners, and instructional designers.

At the core ofParenting Inside Outis theParent Management Training curriculum, which appears on the “best practice” lists of the American Psychological Association, the US Department of Health & Human Services, and the Office of Victims of Crime of the US Department of Justice.Parent Management Training includes communication, problem solving, monitoring, positive reinforcement and non-violent discipline techniques. With input from inmates and their families, researchers built upon theParent Management Training curriculum to make it effective within the context and restrictions of parents and families involved inthe justice system.

What makes Parenting Inside Outdifferent is that it is based on cognitive behavioral and social learning theory—proven methodologies for creating change with criminal justice involved persons. Parents develop and refine social interactional skills and citizenship behaviors they can use in all aspects of their lives, and that will help them guide their children toward becoming positive, constructive adults.

(continued on page 2)

In This Issue / The Parenting Connection is a publication of the Parenting Special Interest Group and the Wisconsin Chapter of the Correctional Education Association.
Send articles and comments to:
Barbara Rasmussen
RacineCorrectional Institution
2019 Wisconsin Street
Sturtevant, WI53177-0900

Phone: 262-886-3214 ext. 3530
1 / Parenting Inside Out Demonstrates Impact
4 / 15 Important Life & Job Prep Topics for Parents to Discuss
5 / Starting the Discussion
5 / Need Help?
6 / MUM Supports Kids of Incarcerated Moms
7 / Have You Received Your Handbook?
7 / Tell Us about Your Program
8 / Resources for Children and Adolescents / Co-Editor: Jerry Bednarowski, CEA-Wisconsin
10 / Editor’s Musings / Proofreader : Laura Reisinger,
Literacy Volunteers - ChippewaValley

One of the central activities in the prison curriculum is the adoption of a bear. Adopting a bear, for whom the parent is responsible 24/7, gives parents the opportunity to practice their parenting skills even though they are not with their children.

TheParenting Inside Outprogram gives parents a way of navigating life that uses healthy, pro-social skills to interact with children, partners, co-parents, officials, friends and family.

The Parenting Inside Outcurriculum is available in four versions:

  • Prison90—90 hours of instruction
  • Prison60—60 hours of instruction
  • Community—48 hours of instruction
  • Jail—20 hours of instruction

Topics covered in the Parenting Inside Out curricula include:

  • Communications skills
  • Problem solving skills
  • Emotion regulation (anger management)
  • Child development
  • Nurturing children through reading and play
  • Non-violent discipline techniques and positive reinforcement
  • Adult development
  • Transitioning planning and family reintegration

The Parenting Inside Outprogram includes:

  • Complete curriculum manual with lesson plans and facilitation guides
  • Supplemental Parenting Coach manual with program research, organizational set up and strategies for teaching specific activities
  • A CD with all participant materials — handouts, worksheets, graduation certificates, evaluation tools
  • Three day, comprehensive training program that ensures curriculum fidelity

Evidence-Based Criteria

Evidence-based practices are becoming the requirement in corrections. Unfortunately, the term "evidence-based" has been claimed by many programs that do not in fact meet the criteria for evidence-based practices. Many parenting education and skills training interventions have been developed, but few have been tested in a scientifically rigorous fashion.

Parenting Inside Outmeets the criteria for an evidence-based program as defined by the Kaufman Best Practices Project (2004).One of the key criteria for earning the designation “evidence-based” is to “have at least one randomized controlled study indicating its efficacy.”

Parenting Inside Outwas evaluated in a $2.1 million randomized controlled study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and conducted by researchers from the OregonSocialLearningCenter. TheParent Child Study, which began in 2006, was designed to investigate the effectiveness of Parenting Inside Out as a prison-based Parent Management Training intervention. The study followed 359 mothers and fathers over a five-year period starting 18 months before release and measured a variety of factors from parent-child relationships and parent-caregiver relationships to re-arrest and substance abuse rates.

Study Design

Inmates throughout the state of Oregon were invited to participate in the study; 453 were eligible for the intervention, and 80% of them (N=359) were eligible for the study. Participants were men and women residing in Oregon Department of Corrections institutions that were parents of children ages 3 to 11 and had some role in parenting their children in the past or expected such a role in the future. Of the participants, 50% were men and 41% were racial and/or ethnic minority.

Participants were randomly assigned toParenting Inside Outor a services as usual control condition, blocking on sex and race/ethnicity. The program was delivered by trained and supervised coaches from an established, community-based nonprofit service agency, Pathfinders of Oregon.

Participants were assessed before, during, and after the intervention period, and then followed up to one year after release from prison. Data were collected from:

  • Inmate parents
  • Children
  • Caregivers
  • Teachers of inmate's children
  • Official school, court, and Department of Corrections records

Trained parenting coaches deliveredParenting Inside Out with high fidelity. Participation in the program was high, as was parent satisfaction.

Analyses were conducted based on Intent toTreat assignment, regardless of participation in the intervention. Multiple imputation procedures were used for missing data. STATA Mixed-Effects Poisson Regression was used for the analyses.

Results have been presented at several national and international research conferences. Initial study results have been accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal (to be published in 2012). Manuscripts on follow-up study results and on moderators of treatment outcome are in production.

Study Results

  • Reduced Recidivism: At one year post release, Parenting Inside Out participants in the study were less likely to have been rearrested (60%), less likely to self-report having been involved in criminal behavior (91%).
  • Better Parental Participation: Participants of the program reported more total family contact, were more likely to be involved in the lives of their children, were more likely to use positive reinforcement, and had lower parental stress scores than their peers who did not participate in the Parenting Inside Out program.
  • Better Attitude: Parenting Inside Out participants showed a dramatic reductions in depression (measured by the CES-D) when compared with their control group peers. In addition, the class significantly raised their prison adjustment scores as compared to the control group.
  • Reduced Substance Abuse: Following release, participants of the program reported substantially less substance abuse (66%) than their peers who did not take Parenting Inside Out classes while incarcerated.

To the Children's Justice Alliance’s knowledge,Parenting Inside Outis the only program for parents involved in the criminal justice system that has proven to reduce recidivism and criminal behavior while improving family relationships and parenting skills in of a significantly sized randomized controlled study.

Contact the Children's Justice Alliance

For more information about the Parenting Inside Outcurriculum, pricing packages, and training opportunities, please contactMindy .

information taken from:

15 Important Life & Job Prep Topics for Parents to Discuss with Their Kids

GetCareerWise.com publishes creative career exploration and life skills resources that helpparents, teachers and mentorsprepare kids for entering the employment world. It was founded by two former Human Resources marketingprofessionals.The following article was published by Co-Owner Susan Schneider on their site: Feel free to pass these tips on to your students who want to help their children develop strong life and job preparation skills.

Teachers and guidance counselors are not the only ones who can teach kids valuable life and job skills. Any adult can provide valuable mentoring any time of year, in any environment.

Make it fun, make it relevant and make it personal.

A good place to start is with the fundamental attributes and attitudes that provide a strong foundation for success in life and in the workplace.

You can equip kids with important universal skills using your own hard-won wisdom and hands-on life experiences and a little creativity. Kids can learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. They appreciate honesty and can see through insincere or phony attempts to connect with them.

Listen. Discover their concerns, anxieties and dreams. Share your own. Prepare them for working with people who don’t share their values or standards.

Discuss who your role models are now and why you have come to respect them.

The fifteen words below are good conversation starters. You can begin by looking them up, talking about the literal definition and how the concept applies in life and then specifically in the employment world, no matter what the job is.

Look to current events if you need examples of inspiring role models or those who are downright disappointing. Connect values and behaviors to outcomes. Talk about how choices affect a person’s future and their affect on others’ lives – at home and on the job.(Don’t forget to mention that the media loves scandals and bad behavior! There are millions of hardworking, exemplary professionals who unfortunately don’t make the headlines.)

Think about people you have worked with, people in your community or church, characters in books and movies, historical and religious figures, as well as family members who represent the good, the bad or the interesting. See what it takes to engage your child in a meaningful discussion.

Add to the list. What skills, abilities and attributes do you want your kids to have as a foundation for how they live their lives or conduct themselves throughout their lives?

1

  1. integrity
  2. compassion
  3. loyalty
  4. accountability
  5. creativity
  6. generosity
  7. flexibility
  8. team spirit
  9. vision
  10. patience
  11. honesty
  12. pride
  13. humility
  14. humor
  15. perseverance

1

These discussions are very important and truly form the foundation for skills development in all areas of life. They will help make you and your kids very careerwise too.

Starting the Discussion

Many offenders beginning the Family SupportModule of the Reentry curriculum at Fox Lake Correctional Institution (Wisconsin) are struggling to find their identity in the family unit.FLCI Reentry Coordinator Tony Rhodes observes, “Every new group seems to demonstrate the same reaction; embarrassment, guilt and shame.”

Tony has learned that “these are not bad or debilitating emotions in themselves, but acatalyst to ‘open heart’ discussions of their desiresto become engaged fathers and husbands.”

To begin a discussion of these emotions and the offenders’ hopes and fears relating to release, Tony uses a series of videos as a “discussion tickler” for the group. He found that viewing and discussing the videos “sets the stage for ‘real life’ scenarios for incarcerated fathers.”

In other words "it hits them in the soft and tender part."Whether it sticks with them, Tony can not say.But, judging by the reaction to the films, he assuredly can say it made a positive impact at the time.He can only hope it stays with them all the way home.

Here are summaries of the videos Tony uses:

The Forgotten Children

What country has the second highest incarceration rate in the Western World? New Zealand. America ranks number 1. This video was produced by the Pillars Programme whose goal is to significantly reduce the incarceration rate in New Zealand—for good. The Forgotten Children video can be found at

What about Them?

This short documentary was made by the University of Oregon in the spring of 2007 and was nominated for a college Emmy in August of 2007. TheWhat about Them?video can be accessed at

Children of Promise – Breaking the Cycle

Children of Promise of New York City produced this video as part of its campaign to break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration. Children of Promise – Breaking the Cycle can be found at

If you would like more information about how Tony uses these videos, you may contact him .

Need Help?

Do you have any questions or need some advice on starting or improving your parenting classes, parent/child literacy program, or parent support group for offenders?

We have an email list of almost 200 parenting educators from 29 states who are eager to help. Just send an email to with your question or request and I will forward it to our email list. Then wait a few days and the helping responses will be sent to you.

For past issues of the Parenting Connection newsletter, go to

MUM Supports Kids of Incarcerated Moms

As Pilgrim United Church of Christ was preparing to close their doors as a congregation in 1971, they imagined a community presence that would continue to minister to the near east side of Madison. Out of this venture came Madison-area Urban Ministry which was formed in 1971 and incorporated as a non-profit agency in 1973 and the Wil-MarNeighborhoodCenter.

Since 1971, MUM has evolved into an interfaith social justice organization that has spurred social change in and around DaneCounty. MUM has always served as an incubator for innovative ideas and new projects. Among these projects are three programs specifically designed to address the unique needs and concerns of children who have a parent in jail or prison or awaiting sentencing. The programs are: Mentoring Connections, Family Connections and Reading Connections.

Children who have a parent in jail or prison or awaiting sentencing are often among the most vulnerable in the community. Not only have these children experienced the loss of a parent through incarceration, but also disruption in their living situation and they worry about their parent. MUM’s Mentoring Connections, Family Connections and Reading Connections are all designed to support children during a parent’s incarceration.

For many years, these programs were developed and expanded under the caring and devoted leadership of Family Connections of Wisconsin, Inc. Executive Director Laurie Bibo. Laurie and the volunteers in Family and Reading Connections helped build a strong foundation for the program that has increased its outreach to children to now serving approximately 100 children, caregivers and moms each month.

Family Connections takes children and caregivers to visit their moms in Taycheedah Correctional Institution. Reading Connections provides books for moms to choose and program volunteers to record the moms reading to their children. Then they mail a letter from mom, the book and the DVD to her children.

There are over 2000 DaneCounty children who have a parent in prison. Mentoring Connections is a community based mentoring program that matches children (4-17 years) with volunteer mentors.

In January 2011, Madison-area Urban Ministry promoted Fabu Phillis Carter to Program Coordinator for MUM’s Mentoring, Family and Reading Connections programs. Fabu has continued to expand MUM’s programs and comments, “It is a wonderful experience to witness how happy the mothers are to send taped readings to their children and even more wonderful to see the faces on both parents and children when they meet in the visiting room at Taycheedah.”

All three of these programs depend on caring volunteers, interns, sponsors and events to make a difference. Ways in which volunteers can help are:

  • Become a program volunteer, either as a mentor or as one of MUM’s volunteers who accompany the children to Taycheedah and help record moms reading to their children.
  • Make a financial donation to Madison-area Urban Ministry in support of these programs. MUM does not receive any government funding for the programs and relies on donations and support from local foundations like the Madison Rotary, Evjue, Capital Kids Fund and others.
  • Adopt a family in need.
  • Have a book drive for multiethnic and Spanish language books.
  • Contact MUM about additional resources.

For more information contact Fabu Phillis Carterat or 608-256-0906.

Have You Received Your Handbook ?

In May, CEA-Wisconsin and the CEA Parenting Special Interest Group published and began distributing two handbooks for incarcerated parents and their families. The Reaching Out:A Handbook for Parents Incarcerated in Wisconsin and its companion, Reaching In:A Handbook for Families of Parents Incarcerated in Wisconsin are designed to help strengthen the bonds between incarcerated parents and their children. By using the advice and information in these handbooks, incarcerated parents will find ways to “Reach Out” to their children; caregivers will find ways to help the children “Reach In” to their separated parents.