Expanded Services for Parents (ESP)

The Second Chance Act (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of parents who are incarcerated as well as their families. Research has shown that children may benefit from maintaining healthy relationships with their incarcerated parents. Section 113 of the Second Chance Act authorizes grants to states, units of local government, and Indian tribes to improve the provision of substance abuse treatment within prison and jails and after reentry for inmates who have minor children and also includes outreach to families and provision of treatment and other services to children and other family members of participant inmates. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) will fund eligible applicants to plan, implement, or expand such treatment programs.

The Family-Based Prisoner Substance Abuse Treatment Program enhances the capability of states and tribes to provide substance abuse treatment for incarcerated parents; prepares offenders for their reintegration into the communities from which they came by incorporating reentry planning activities into treatment programs; and assists offenders and their communities through the reentry process through the delivery of community-based treatment and other broad-based aftercare services. Projects will provide prison-based substance abuse treatment and parenting programs for incarcerated parents of minor children, as well as treatment and other services to the participating offenders' minor children and family members. Programming must be targeted to inmates with minor children and include services for these inmates, their minor children, and other family members. By law, no less that 5 percent of the funds available for the Family-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program will be used for grants to Indian Tribes.

The Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC), in partnership with the State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), will use the grant funds to provide treatment and support services to offenders enrolled in the DOC Community Parenting Alternative (CPA). The Expanded Services for Parents (ESP) target population will include female offenders enrolled in the CPA program that transition from the Therapeutic Community (TC) at Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women (MCCCW), or the Residential Parenting Program (RPP) at Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW). The participants from the TC at MCCCW, in addition to having substance abuse disorders, also have mental health disorders. Project goals will include: (1) Establishing evidence-based parenting programs at MCCCW and WCCW; (2) identifying minor children and family members of offender participants and assessing their needs; (3) connecting offenders to service providers prior to transition within phases of the program; and, (4) providing support services to offenders and their family necessary to attend treatment.

CA/NCF