doughsgurl
11-05-2004, 10:27 AM
Posted on Fri, Nov. 05, 2004
Program for kids starts in prison
Mentors to guide children of inmates
Dawn Borman
Kansas City Star
“If nothing is done to intervene in the lives of those children, 70 percent … will end up incarcerated themselves.”
Wilson Goode
Inmates paused momentarily to watch as the sharply dressed man made his way through the prison yard and cell blocks.
“Good morning,” said former Philadelphia mayor W. Wilson Goode, reaching out to shake hands with the inmates at the Lansing Correctional Facility.
His next question gave them pause.
“Do you have kids?”
Chatting about one's children is not the most natural conversation in an environment surrounded by barbed wire, but inmates engaged nonetheless.
And with his simple introduction Thursday morning in Lansing, Goode explained Amachi, a faith-based mentoring program for children of prisoners.
With the program just beginning to gain popularity around the country, Goode is in Kansas this week to introduce it by talking to inmates, corrections officials and — most important — religious organizations.
The mentoring program is modeled after the Big Brothers Big Sisters approach, which links the children of single parents with an adult mentor.
However, the Amachi program has an unusual twist: It connects the children of incarcerated parents with adults from religious groups.
That connection, Goode believes, is a logical one. Religious groups provide a solid foundation for the children, and the children have an admirable role model.
“The whole purpose of this is to try to break this generational cycle” of crime and punishment, Goode said.
There are, he pointed out, 7.3 million American children with at least one parent in prison. Big Brothers says roughly 20,000 of those children are in Kansas.
“If nothing is done to intervene in the lives of those children, 70 percent … will end up incarcerated themselves,” Goode said.
He started Amachi — organizers say the word derives from the West African expression for “who knows but what God has brought us through this child” — in Philadelphia four years ago.
Since its inception, the program has produced noticeable results in Philadelphia children. So much so that it caught the attention of President Bush during a visit in 2001, and he referred to the program in a subsequent State of the Union address.
Not long after that, programs such as Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters began to receive federal grants to implement Amachi.
The Kansas program will receive a $925,000 annual grant for three years to hire employees and to start and manage the project and other programs serving the same segment of children.
The nonprofit group must raise an additional $300,000 a year to receive the grant.
The money should provide the tools to reach out to 3,000 children each year during a three-year period, said Jim Griffin, a spokesman for Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Amachi will start immediately in the prisons, where inmates will be asked to provide the names of their children and caregivers. After that, the inmate has as much or as little interaction as the caregiver or mentor desires. Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters will contact each caregiver, who has the option to participate or not.
Religious groups will appeal to their congregations for mentors. After the typical background checks have been completed, each child will be connected with a mentor.
Goode is especially passionate about the program because his father spent time in prison. Mentors convinced Goode to attend college.
Touring the Lansing prison Thursday, he happened across a man who said his father and uncle had served time behind the same prison walls.
Some inmates were eager to join; others dismiss his initiative. One inmate said children won't listen to someone who hasn't lived the prison life.
“Um, you'd be surprised,” the former mayor said.
Goode, the first black mayor elected to serve the fourth-largest U.S. city, has taken on many roles in his life, but said nothing has been more rewarding than Amachi.
“Nothing gives me more joy than the work that I do around the country trying to find mentors,” he said.
Article found here: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10103075.htm (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10103075.htm)
Program for kids starts in prison
Mentors to guide children of inmates
Dawn Borman
Kansas City Star
“If nothing is done to intervene in the lives of those children, 70 percent … will end up incarcerated themselves.”
Wilson Goode
Inmates paused momentarily to watch as the sharply dressed man made his way through the prison yard and cell blocks.
“Good morning,” said former Philadelphia mayor W. Wilson Goode, reaching out to shake hands with the inmates at the Lansing Correctional Facility.
His next question gave them pause.
“Do you have kids?”
Chatting about one's children is not the most natural conversation in an environment surrounded by barbed wire, but inmates engaged nonetheless.
And with his simple introduction Thursday morning in Lansing, Goode explained Amachi, a faith-based mentoring program for children of prisoners.
With the program just beginning to gain popularity around the country, Goode is in Kansas this week to introduce it by talking to inmates, corrections officials and — most important — religious organizations.
The mentoring program is modeled after the Big Brothers Big Sisters approach, which links the children of single parents with an adult mentor.
However, the Amachi program has an unusual twist: It connects the children of incarcerated parents with adults from religious groups.
That connection, Goode believes, is a logical one. Religious groups provide a solid foundation for the children, and the children have an admirable role model.
“The whole purpose of this is to try to break this generational cycle” of crime and punishment, Goode said.
There are, he pointed out, 7.3 million American children with at least one parent in prison. Big Brothers says roughly 20,000 of those children are in Kansas.
“If nothing is done to intervene in the lives of those children, 70 percent … will end up incarcerated themselves,” Goode said.
He started Amachi — organizers say the word derives from the West African expression for “who knows but what God has brought us through this child” — in Philadelphia four years ago.
Since its inception, the program has produced noticeable results in Philadelphia children. So much so that it caught the attention of President Bush during a visit in 2001, and he referred to the program in a subsequent State of the Union address.
Not long after that, programs such as Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters began to receive federal grants to implement Amachi.
The Kansas program will receive a $925,000 annual grant for three years to hire employees and to start and manage the project and other programs serving the same segment of children.
The nonprofit group must raise an additional $300,000 a year to receive the grant.
The money should provide the tools to reach out to 3,000 children each year during a three-year period, said Jim Griffin, a spokesman for Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Amachi will start immediately in the prisons, where inmates will be asked to provide the names of their children and caregivers. After that, the inmate has as much or as little interaction as the caregiver or mentor desires. Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters will contact each caregiver, who has the option to participate or not.
Religious groups will appeal to their congregations for mentors. After the typical background checks have been completed, each child will be connected with a mentor.
Goode is especially passionate about the program because his father spent time in prison. Mentors convinced Goode to attend college.
Touring the Lansing prison Thursday, he happened across a man who said his father and uncle had served time behind the same prison walls.
Some inmates were eager to join; others dismiss his initiative. One inmate said children won't listen to someone who hasn't lived the prison life.
“Um, you'd be surprised,” the former mayor said.
Goode, the first black mayor elected to serve the fourth-largest U.S. city, has taken on many roles in his life, but said nothing has been more rewarding than Amachi.
“Nothing gives me more joy than the work that I do around the country trying to find mentors,” he said.
Article found here: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10103075.htm (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10103075.htm)