The Implementation of Family Strengthening programs for Families Affected by Incarceration.

182 Pages·2015·2.51 MB·English

April 2015
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RTI Project Number
0210412.000.008

The Implementation of Family
Strengthening Programs for
Families Affected by Incarceration

April 2015

Prepared for

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families/Office of Family Assistance

Prepared by

Tasseli E. McKay, MPH
Christine H. Lindquist, PhD
Elise Corwin, BA
Anupa Bir, ScD
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

This report was prepared by RTI International for the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of the Secretary, and the Office of
Family Assistance, Administration for Children and Families, United States
Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract Number
HHSP2332006290YC, September 2006. The views, opinions and findings expressed
in this document are those of the report authors and the researchers whose work
was cited and do not necessarily represent the official positions and policies of the
United States Department of Health and Human Services.
_________________________________
RTI International is a registered trademark and a trade name of Research Triangle Institute.
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A
cknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to staff and stakeholders at grantee organizations
who provided us with rich descriptive information about each program’s implementation,
and the clients who discussed their experiences with program participation with us. In
particular, we would like to thank:
Carol Burton and Julie Lifshay (Centerforce)
Karen Horsch, Mike Ostrowski, and Kristina Toth (Child and Family Services of New
Hampshire and New Hampshire Department of Corrections)
Stephen Hall, David Liebel, Katie Knudson, and Aaron Garner (Indiana Department of
Correction)
Sara Miller, Mel Harrington, and Roland Loudenburg (Lutheran Social Services of South
Dakota)
Ronald Nix and Lindsay Cramer (Maryland Department of Human Resources)
Eric McCoy, Ebony Ruhland, and Roberta Ryan (Minnesota Council on Crime and Justice)
James Wojtowicz and Ruth Steinruck (New Jersey Department of Corrections)
Kathie Flanery and Ted Jurkiewicz (Oakland Livingston Human Services Association)
Randi Blumenthal Guigui and Michelle Portlock (Osborne)
Ron Tijerina, Catherine Tijerina, Beth Brown, and Matt Nelson (RIDGE)
Cynthia Stovalll, MarVin Aldridge, and Glenda Slater (Shelby County Division of
Correction)
Ron Brewer, Connie Alexander, and Mindy Fires (Texas Arms of Love, d.b.a. People of
Principle)
We thank the RTI site staff—Hope Smiley McDonald, Mindy Herman Stahl, Kristine Fahrney,
Beth Lasater, Erin Kennedy, and Sarah Phair—who (along with the authors) conducted these
interviews. We also thank Danielle Steffey for analyzing the administrative data submitted
by grantees and the RTI Publishing Services Group for editorial assistance and document
preparation.
Finally, we would like to thank Linda Mellgren and Erica Meade of the Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in the federal Department of Health and
Human Services for their thoughtful leadership of this product and the project at large, and
Madeleine Solan, also of ASPE, for her careful review.

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C
ontents

Section Page
Executive Summary ............................................................................................ 1
1 The Responsible Fatherhood, Healthy Marriage and Family
Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Reentering Fathers
and Their Partners Initiative ........................................................... 1-1
1.1 Background ................................................................................ 1-1
1.2 Overview of the MFS-IP Initiative .................................................... 1-2
1.2.1 Allowable Activities .......................................................... 1-3
1.2.2 Target Population ............................................................ 1-3
1.2.3 Additional Requirements .................................................. 1-3
1.3 The MFS-IP Evaluation ................................................................. 1-4
1.3.1 Evaluation Overview ........................................................ 1-4
1.3.2 Evaluation Goals ............................................................. 1-4
1.3.3 Implementation Study Overview ....................................... 1-4
1.3.4 Impact Study Overview .................................................... 1-5
1.4 Data Sources for This Report ......................................................... 1-5
1.5 Section Summary ........................................................................ 1-6
2 MFS-IP Grantees and Program Design ............................................ 2-1
2.1 The MFS-IP Grantees ................................................................... 2-1
2.2 Grantee Goals and Objectives ....................................................... 2-2
2.3 Key Design Characteristics ............................................................ 2-3
2.3.1 Organizational Partnerships .............................................. 2-9
2.3.2 Recruitment and Participation ......................................... 2-10
2.3.3 Program Components .................................................... 2-10
2.3.4 Service Delivery Strategies ............................................. 2-13
2.3.5 Sustainability Planning ................................................... 2-13
2.3.6 Key Design Insights from the MFS-IP Grantees ................. 2-13
2.4 Section Summary ...................................................................... 2-13
3 Creating and Maintaining Organizational Partnerships .................... 3-1
3.1 Collaborating with Correctional Agencies ........................................ 3-1
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3.1.1 Navigating Start-Up and Ongoing Partnership Challenges ..... 3-1
3.1.2 Effects of Economic Recession........................................... 3-3
3.1.3 Impact of State Correctional Policy Context ........................ 3-4
3.1.4 Impact of Correctional Facility Context ............................... 3-4
3.1.5 Strategies for Effective Partnerships with Correctional
Agencies ........................................................................ 3-6
3.2 Building Partnerships with Community Justice Agencies .................... 3-8
3.3 Working Well with Community-Based Agencies ................................ 3-9
3.3.1 Initial and Ongoing Partnership Challenges ......................... 3-9
3.3.2 Impact of the Recession ................................................. 3-10
3.3.3 Impact of Geographic Context ........................................ 3-10
3.3.4 Impact of Other Contextual Factors ................................. 3-11
3.3.5 Strategies for Effective Partnerships with Community-
Based Agencies ............................................................. 3-12
3.4 Section Summary ...................................................................... 3-15
4 Recruitment and Participation ......................................................... 4-1
4.1 Target Population ........................................................................ 4-1
4.1.1 Relationship Status .......................................................... 4-1
4.1.2 Specialized Populations .................................................... 4-2
4.1.3 Stage of Incarceration or Reentry ...................................... 4-3
4.1.4 Geographic Parameters .................................................... 4-3
4.1.5 Other Restrictions ........................................................... 4-3
4.2 Recruitment Approaches ............................................................... 4-4
4.2.1 Recruiting Men in Correctional Settings .............................. 4-4
4.2.2 Recruiting Men in Community Settings ............................... 4-5
4.2.3 Recruiting Partners .......................................................... 4-5
4.3 Recruitment Challenges ................................................................ 4-6
4.3.1 Recruiting Men ................................................................ 4-6
4.3.2 Recruiting Partners .......................................................... 4-6
4.3.3 Overcoming Recruitment Challenges: What Grantees
Learned about Effective Recruitment ................................. 4-8
4.3.4 Client Perspectives: Motivation for Participating in MFS-
IP Programs ................................................................... 4-9
4.4 Total Participation Numbers ........................................................ 4-11
4.5 Section Summary ...................................................................... 4-13
5 MFS-IP Program Components ......................................................... 5-1
5.1 Relationship Education ................................................................. 5-1
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5.1.1 Relationship Education Course Format ............................... 5-4
5.1.2 Relationship Education Curricula ....................................... 5-6
5.2 Parenting Education ..................................................................... 5-7
5.2.1 Parenting Education Course Format ................................... 5-7
5.2.2 Parenting Education Curricula ........................................... 5-8
5.3 Other Family Supports ............................................................... 5-10
5.3.1 In-Person Visitation Support ........................................... 5-10
5.3.2 Supporting Long-Distance Communication ........................ 5-11
5.3.3 Family Group Conferencing and Family Counseling ............ 5-11
5.4 Case Management ..................................................................... 5-12
5.5 Other Individualized Supports ..................................................... 5-12
5.6 Economic Stability Services ......................................................... 5-13
5.7 Other Group-Based Program Components ..................................... 5-13
5.7.1 Support Groups ............................................................ 5-13
5.7.2 Substance Abuse Treatment ........................................... 5-14
5.7.3 Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ................................ 5-14
5.7.4 Life Skills Workshops ..................................................... 5-14
5.8 Post-release Program Components .............................................. 5-14
5.9 Section Summary ...................................................................... 5-14
6 Key Strategies for Service Delivery ................................................. 6-1
6.1 Addressing Domestic Violence ....................................................... 6-1
6.1.1 Domestic Violence Protocols ............................................. 6-1
6.1.2 Detecting Domestic Violence Risk upon Enrollment .............. 6-2
6.1.3 Rethinking Enrollment Screening Procedures ...................... 6-3
6.1.4 Domestic Violence Exclusion Criteria .................................. 6-4
6.1.5 Domestic Violence Education ............................................ 6-4
6.1.6 Individual Supports Related to Domestic Violence................ 6-6
6.2 Adapting Curricula to Ensure Relevance .......................................... 6-6
6.2.1 Adapting Relationship and Parenting Education Content ....... 6-6
6.2.2 Adapting Course Language ............................................... 6-9
6.2.3 Adapting Style of Delivery .............................................. 6-10
6.3 Making Changes Based on Participants’ Input ................................ 6-11
6.3.1 Changes to Operations ....................................................... 6-11
6.3.2 Changes to Curricula ..................................................... 6-11
6.4 Staffing Effectively ..................................................................... 6-11
6.4.1 Hiring and Retaining Staff .............................................. 6-11
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6.4.2 Managing Service Delivery in Multiple Institutional
Contexts ...................................................................... 6-14
6.5 Keeping Participants Engaged ..................................................... 6-15
6.5.1 Engaging Incarcerated Participants .................................. 6-15
6.5.2 Engaging Partners in the Community ............................... 6-16
6.5.3 Engaging Reentering Men and Their Partners .................... 6-17
6.6 Section Summary ...................................................................... 6-19
7 Looking Ahead: Grantees’ Assessments of Their Achievements
and Post-Funding Sustainability ...................................................... 7-1
7.1 Perceptions about What Worked in MFS-IP ...................................... 7-1
7.2 Lessons Learned about Program Focus and Most Effective
Components ............................................................................... 7-2
7.3 Lessons Learned about the Families That Benefited the Most from
Programming .............................................................................. 7-4
7.4 Grantee Recommendations for Design and Delivery of Family-
Strengthening Programming ......................................................... 7-4
7.4.1 Expanding Eligibility ........................................................ 7-5
7.4.2 Starting with a Strong Design ........................................... 7-5
7.4.3 Integrating Parenting and Healthy Relationship
Programming .................................................................. 7-7
7.5 Recommendations for Funding and Grant Monitoring ........................ 7-9
7.6 Sustainability of MFS-IP Programs ............................................... 7-11
7.7 Section Summary ...................................................................... 7-15
8 Conclusion: Key Lessons from the Implementation Study of
MFS-IP Programs ............................................................................ 8-1
8.1 Defining a Target Population ......................................................... 8-1
8.1.1 Importance of Serving Justice-Involved Men and Their
Families ......................................................................... 8-1
8.1.2 Including More Families in Services ................................... 8-1
8.2 Designing a Program That Meets Participants’ Needs ........................ 8-2
8.2.1 Reframing “Healthy Marriage” ........................................... 8-2
8.2.2 Providing Other Relevant Supports .................................... 8-2
8.2.3 Delivering Curricula Tailored for Justice-Involved
Couples .......................................................................... 8-2
8.2.4 Building Genuine Connections with Participants ................... 8-3
8.2.5 Timing Services Effectively ............................................... 8-3
8.2.6 Engaging Participants in the Community ............................ 8-3
8.3 Creating Strong Partnerships ........................................................ 8-4
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