This demonstration program will support a practitioner-researcher partnership to develop and evaluate new mentoring practices to serve the needs of youth whose parents are incarcerated. Incarcerated parents and their children are a heterogeneous group, and associations between parental incarceration and developmental outcomes are complicated. However, research has shown that having an incarcerated parent can present individual and environmental risks for the child and increase the likelihood of negative outcomes. OJJDP recognizes that while mentoring has  been shown to be an effective intervention for youth in general, more research is needed to understand how the unique needs of youth who have incarcerated parents are best supported through mentoring.  

OJJDP FY 2014 Practitioner-Researcher Partnership Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents Demonstration Program Grant was awarded to the Mid Atlantic Network of Youth and Family Services and the Center for Evidenced Based Mentoring at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

http://www.ojjdp.gov/grants/solicitations/FY2014/PartnershipMentoringCOIP.pdf