The county will use these funds to implement positive family engagement and activities at facilities to address the needs of incarcerated parents with children who are under 18 years old. The duration of this program is set to last for 36 months, or from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2025.
This award is part of the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's 2022 Second Chance Act to address the needs of incarcerated parents and their minor children throughout the nation. Fort Bend County’s Always Parenting Program is one of eight awards, with all grants totaling approximately $5.9 million.
Per program documents, examples of activities that may be funded through this 2022 Second Chance Act include:
- providing facilities with staffing, equipment, tools and resources to create child-friendly spaces with quality environments for visitation;
- developing safety protocols and procedures for children who visit their incarcerated parents;
- identifying experts who could implement evidence-based strategies that address issues associated with incarcerated parents and their minor children;
- developing and expanding education programs that strengthen an incarcerated parent’s engagement with their child and family;
- providing parenting classes and other services to promote responsible civic and family engagement;
- supporting family counseling services and educational support to help break the cycle of violence among children of incarcerated parents; and
- when supported by the child’s guardian or caregiver, developing services—like father-daughter dances, increased communication through phone calls, emails, letters and televisiting; increased visitation opportunities; and reading-on-tape programs—to promote the incarcerated parents continued involvement in their minor children’s lives.
The Always Parenting program is a collaboration between Texas' Sheriff's Office and Behavioral Health Services.
Its purpose is to provide support and resources to the local jails in Richmond to create child-friendly spaces and a coordinated system of family-focused services.
This is an effort to reduce the adverse effects of incarceration on both parent and child by strengthening their relationships.
These effects include suicide, alcohol and substance dependency, mental health disorders, domestic and sexual abuse, financial instability, and the impact of these factors on the child and local community.
Fort Bend County has received two other awards from the OJJDP, totalling $1.66 million. A 2009 program granted the county $300,000 to address maltreated infants and toddlers who were victims of child abuse and neglect.
The since-closed program created a court team with goals to increase the knowledge and skills of community stakeholders to better meet the needs of those children and their families involved in the child welfare system.
The county received $622,883 for a 2021 program to aid at-risk youth with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse who have come in contact with the juvenile justice system. This program is still active.
The FOCUS Youth Program’s goals are to increase public safety in Fort Bend County by improving responses to and outcomes for these youth, and implement a cross-system approach involving law enforcement, court and behavioral health agencies.
