Children of incarcerated parents face complex challenges in the areas of housing, education, employment, and mental health. Support services, such as tutoring, mentoring and parenting support for the caregivers are needed so that these youth can reach their full potential.
And, since 10 percent of children with incarcerated mothers and 2 percent of children with incarcerated fathers are in foster care, work with birth families and visits to prisons are essential building blocks toward reunification and permanency. This important work aligns with Casey’s goals to reduce foster care and increase our well-being outcomes for youth in care.
During 2008, Casey Family Programs’ Yakima Field Office supported the Southeast Community Center of Yakima’s effort to serve children of incarcerated parents.
The Southeast Community Center in Yakima, has stepped up to provide services and support for children of incarcerated parents through the development and implementation of a mentoring program. This program, called Children of Incarcerated Parents Empowered for Success (COPES) recruits, trains, and supports mentors for children of incarcerated parents.
Since 2006, the COPES program has fostered positive outcomes for the youth and families the program serves. In 2007, the Yakima Field Office and the Southeast Community Center requested an evaluation of the COPES program in order to foster program accountability, understand the program’s impact, and gain important information for program improvement purposes.
Casey Family Programs’ Research Services hired TriWest Group, a research consulting firm, to design and implement the evaluation in collaboration with Casey Family Programs. This evaluation is a great example of how research can support program development and lead to the replication of promising programs through data-driven results. We are pleased to present the evaluation findings in this report.