NCJ Number
211450
Date Published
January 2004
Length
66 pages
Annotation
This report presents lessons learned during the development and implementation of Philadelphia’s Amachi program, which brings together children of prisoners with volunteer mentors.
Abstract
The goal of the report is to provide guidance to community leaders across the country who would like to start similar initiatives. One-on-one mentoring programs have been shown to be highly effective for at-risk children. The children of prisoners face a variety of risk factors and without intervention may follow deleterious family patterns; an estimated two-thirds of youth within the juvenile justice system have a parent in prison. A statement on faith-based crime prevention is made and an overview is provided of the type of work faith-based programs engage in and of the Amachi: Mentoring Children of Prisoners program in particular. The vast needs of children of prisoners in the United States are reviewed as the case is made for the effectiveness of one-on-one mentoring programs at reducing risk among this vulnerable population. An overview of an effective mentoring program is presented, followed by a description of the Amachi model, which is a research-based model that relies on a strong partnership between reputable secular non-profit agencies and faith organizations, as well as other community groups. The key steps involved in planning and implementing an Amachi-based mentoring program are described and include identifying target areas, locating resources, and recruiting volunteers and children. Monitoring and evaluation are an important phase of the program and help guarantee high levels of accountability and quality. Appendixes contain sample forms, such as volunteer mentor information forms and match forms. Resources, publications, appendixes