Developing an Effective Intervention for Incarcerated Teen Fathers (original) (raw)
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Developing an Effective Intervention for Incarcerated Teen Fathers: The Baby Elmo Program
Zero to Three, 2012
The absence of a father figure has been linked to very poor developmental outcomes. The Baby Elmo Program, a parenting and structured visitation program, aims to form and maintain bonds between children and their incarcerated teen fathers. The program is taught and supervised by probation staff in juvenile detention facilities. This intervention is based on building a relationship between the teen and his child, rather than on increasing the teen’s abstract parenting knowledge. Because the intervention is conducted in the context of parent–child visits, it fosters hands-on learning and increases the opportunity for contact between these young fathers and their children, a benefit in itself. An evaluation of the program indicated improvements in quality of interactions and communication; this increase in the interactional quality of the relationship increases the likelihood that the father and child will form and maintain a positive relationship. R ecent estimates suggest that parent...
The Baby Elmo Program: Improving teen father–child interactions within juvenile justice facilities
Children and Youth Services Review, 2011
The aim of the Baby Elmo Program is to establish a low-cost, sustainable parenting and structured visitation program for non-custodial incarcerated teen parents. The program is taught and supervised by probation staff in juvenile detention facilities and unlike traditional programs, this intervention is not based on increasing the teen's abstract parenting knowledge, but rather in building a relationship between the teen and his child. The sessions target the interactional quality of the relationship by introducing relationship, communication, and socio-emotional enhancing techniques. Because the intervention is conducted in the context of parent–child visits, it fosters hands-on learning and increases the opportunity for contact between these young parents and their children, a benefit in itself. Twenty father–infant dyads, with infants ranging in age from 6 to 36 months, participated in the present preliminary evaluation of the program. Individual growth curve analyses showed significant gains in five of six measures of emotional responsiveness with the age of infant as a significant covariate. These results indicate improvements in positive high quality interactions and communication during sessions between infants and their incarcerated parents and this increase in the interactional quality of the relationship increases the likelihood that the incarcerated teen and child will form and maintain a positive relationship with one another.► Baby Elmo Program is an intervention targeting incarcerated teen parents. ► Targets quality of dyad relationship with socio-emotional enhancing techniques. ► Measured emotional responsiveness between father and child. ► Emotional responsiveness between father and child dyad increases across sessions. ► Increase in quality of relationship increases chances of maintaining relationship.
Psychological Services, 2014
The absence of a father figure has been linked to very poor developmental outcomes for the child. During incarceration, there are limited opportunities for visitation between fathers and their children. The Baby Elmo Program provides incarcerated teen fathers with parenting training and visitation with their children with the stated goal of enhancing fatherϪchild interactional quality. Forty-one incarcerated teen fathers and their infants ranging from 1 to 15 months of age participated in the present study. During individual sessions, a trained facilitator prepared fathers for visits with their children by introducing key concepts such as following the child's lead, using developmentally appropriate media to illustrate those concepts. After each training session, the incarcerated teen father interacted with his infant and the visit was video recorded. Analysis of the visit sessions focused on father's time use on different activities, the quality of fatherϪinfant interactions, and father's integration of target skills introduced in the intervention. The time-use analysis revealed that time use changed as a function of infant age. Growth linear modeling indicated that there were significant positive increases in the amount of parent support and infant engagement as a function of the number of sessions. Follow-up analyses indicated that changes between specific sessions mapped onto the target skills discussed during specific training sessions. This study's preliminary findings suggest that an intervention integrating visitation and appropriate media may be effective for incarcerated teen fathers. Due to the lack of a randomized control group, the present findings are exploratory and are discussed with a focus on further program development.
Increasing the Quality of Father-Child Interactions within the Juvenile Justice System
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000
The absence of a father figure has been linked to very poor developmental outcomes. The Baby Elmo Program, a parenting and structured visitation program, aims to form and maintain bonds between children and their incarcerated teen fathers. The program is taught and supervised by probation staff in juvenile detention facilities. This intervention is based on building a relationship between the teen and his child, rather than on increasing the teen's abstract parenting knowledge. Because the intervention is conducted in the context of parent-child visits, it fosters hands-on learning and increases the opportunity for contact between these young fathers and their children, a benefit in itself. An evaluation of the program indicated improvements in quality of interactions and communication; this increase in the interactional quality of the relationship increases the likelihood that the father and child will form and maintain a positive relationship.
Journal of Child and Family Studies, 2020
Objectives More than five million children have experienced a co-resident parent leaving to spend time behind bars. Most incarceration occurs in jails, yet little is known about contact between parents in jail and their minor children. Such information is essential to inform programming and policy to support families in the context of incarceration. Methods In the present study, 315 fathers in jail with minor children (3-17 years old) were recruited from four jails in the Midwest region of the United States. Fathers in jail reported their demographic information, incarceration-related characteristics (e.g., number of prior arrests), children's exposure to incarceration-related events, and frequency of contact with their children. Results Four main findings emerged: (1) telephone contact was the most common modality for engaging with children during a paternal jail stay, with 22% of fathers reporting daily phone contact with children, (2) types of contact were correlated, so that more phone contact and letter writing were associated with more frequent visits, (3) White, non-Hispanic fathers and those who did not plan to live with their children upon release were less likely to report telephone contact with their children, and (4) children who witnessed their fathers' arrest were less likely to write and children who witnessed their fathers' criminal activity were less likely to visit. Conclusions Contact between fathers in jail and children has implications for the parent-child relationship. Future research should explore quality of and barriers to contact, including incarceration-related events.
Understanding the Parent Education Needs of Incarcerated Fathers
This study examined parent education needs of fathers incarcerated at a state correctional facility. Focus groups and follow-up individual interviews were used with 30 fathers ranging in age from 17 to 28. All of the men had at least one child 6 years of age or younger. The sample represented a range of cultural and family backgrounds. The findings of the study suggested five themes. First, fatherhood has a profound influence on men's lives and may be an important motivation to build a more responsible and mature lifestyle. Second, the quality of the attachment relationship is variable and is often influenced by the tenuous nature of the father-child relationship and a strained relationship with the child's mother. Third, there is a number of ways that incarcerated fathers maintain contact with their children, including visitation, letters, phone calls, and sending money or presents. Common emotions around interacting with children during visitation at the prison included am...
Incarcerated Fathers and Their Children: Effects of a Reciprocally Connected Relationship
2014
The present study was aimed at exploring the issues faced by previously incarcerated fathers and their children. A qualitative design utilizing face to face interviews was used to answer the question: according to previously incarcerate fathers, what are the differences between the reciprocal connectedness of fathers and their children prior to, during, and following incarceration? Interviews were conducted with 10 previously incarcerated fathers. Researchers found that all participants had positive relationships with their children at some point prior to incarceration. Furthermore, during incarceration the reciprocal connectedness of these relationships severely decreased due to limited or no contact. Following incarceration, fathers continued to have difficulty rebuilding the connection they once had with their children due to continued limited or nonexistent contact and mistrust by their children. Incarcerated fathers and their children are an underserved population in need of additional resources. The findings of the study add to the literature about the relationship between previously incarcerated fathers and their children, in hopes that further research and services will be developed. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would first like to acknowledge our advisor Dr. Ray Liles for his guidance and support throughout this research project. Also, we would like to acknowledge Dr. Carolyn Eggleston for allowing us to utilize Cal State San Bernardino Reentry Initiative's facilities and students. Lastly, we would like to thank our families for their love and support throughout our graduate program. DEDICATION The researchers would like to dedicate this study to the Cal State San Bernardino Reentry Initiative (CSRI) and it's students. For without their openness this research project would not have been successful. The study is also dedicated to all incarcerated fathers and their children. The researchers hope that awareness and services for this population grows. Lastly, we would also like to dedicate this research project to Genna West, MSW. Thank you so much for all of your help and mentorship. This study would not have been possible without you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
Groeupwork, 2007
Incarceration of men causes many children to lose their fathers to imprisonment temporarily. Parenting programs often ignore or exclude incarcerated fathers. The involvement in criminal activities and the resulting incarceration does not exempt the fathers from their roles and responsibilities. The human element of rehabilitation and family relationships cannot be ignored. For many children of incarcerated parents, the best permanency plan is one in which the parent continues to play a significant role in the child's life. The preservation of families, even in a prison setting, is a priority. The aim of this article is to describe the nature of a fatherhood-skills project with groupwork as the main method of intervention in a prison setting and the influence in alleviating the impact of incarceration on family members. The specific aim of the project was to strengthen family ties between incarcerated fathers and their children. Groupwork with the aim to improve fatherhood skills was done after a thorough situation analysis of inmates' needs. Fathers had to show motivation to be better fathers to be involved in the groupwork. The result of the project was an extended day visit for fathers and children and an ongoing effort in the specific prison to improve the skills of the fathers.
Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Children with Incarcerated Parents
2008
Parental incarceration affects a large and increasing number of children. The most recent estimates (for 2002) indicate that over 1.5 million children have a parent who is currently in state or federal prison. Most of these children are young, low-income, and black or Hispanic. These children face significant uncertainty in nearly every aspect of their lives. Temporary, informal care arrangements may permanently separate children from their imprisoned parent, their family, and their friends. The expense and discomfort of prison visits may limit the contact between parent and child needed to maintain a relationship during incarceration. Dramatic reductions in parental income and resource-strained caregivers may lead to significant financial hardship.