Meetings were convened in Flint and Lansing, Michigan on November 21,2014 by the Michigan Public Health Institute to discuss emerging issues among children of incarcerated parents and to communicate results from the Michigan longitudinal study, Project S.E.E.K (Services to Enable and Empower Children of Incarcerated Parents) Carol Burton, coordinator of the original Project S.E.E.K. which operated in Flint from 1999 to 2004 and served children of incarcerated parents, is also the co-principal investigator of this new 15?year follow up study of Project S.E.E.K participants. She introduced the November 22 forum and discussed the use of the project results to determine guidelines for best practices for serving children of incarcerated parents in Flint & nationwide.
Ms. Burton was joined by her co-principal investigator Crystal Pirtle Tyler, MPHI analyst, Eugene Schneeberg, Director of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and Ann Adalist-Estrin, NRCCFI Director and Amanda Alexander, Soros Justice Fellow
University of Michigan Law School Child Advocacy Clinic.
The Project S.E.E.K. 2014 report is outlined in the Executive Summary. Read more here. Project S.E.E.K. 2000 report gives a description and history of the project. Read more here.
The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), in partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), released a seminal model policy regarding police interaction with children who are impacted when a parent is arrested and law enforcement carries out its investigative and arrest responsibilities. Reflecting the collective input of a wide range of subject-matter experts and stakeholders, and understanding that interactions between children and law enforcement create lasting impressions, the resulting model policy, Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents , provides strategies for law enforcement to improve their procedures and positively impact the communities they serve.
A discussion of this protocol will be part of the information discussed on December 2,2014 at “Children of Incarcerated Parents: Trauma, Stress and Protections” a Summit sponsored by Friends Outside Los Angeles and link to the invitation attached.