Cook County Sheriff's WestCare Family Impact Program

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 Cook County Sheriff's Office will use funds to implement a pilot program for family-based reentry services for detainees at the Cook County Jail who are participating in substance abuse treatment at the WestCare Impact Program. The Family Impact Program will provide a six-month program of family services to 120 incarcerated fathers with minor children ages 12 to 17, who are completing treatment in the Impact Program, and are not implicated in domestic violence or child abuse. The Impact Program will assess each participant using the Inmate Pre-Release Assessment (IPASS), develop inmate reentry plans, and collaborate with partners to provide case managed reentry services. The goals of the Family Impact Program are to (1) Encourage participants to end substance abuse and criminality; (2) encourage participation in aftercare programs and family-strengthening activities for long-term recovery maintenance; and (3) improve the family environment of incarcerated parents and their minor children.

CA/NCF