Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents Program...Volunteers of America of Oklahoma’s Mentoring Children of Prisoners program began in 2004 with federal funding provided by the Family and Youth Services Bureau. Oklahoma’s high incarceration rates – the highest in the nation for women and the fourth highest for men – have created a large population of Oklahoman children with parents in prison, with over 2000 in the Tulsa metro area alone.
Many of the children in our program are being cared for by a mother or other female relative whose time and resources are stretched too thin to give their children the individual attention that they each need and deserve. One such overburdened grandparent is Renee, a grandmother of three children in our program. Renee cares for seven children in total as well as her elderly mother. She says that she “doesn’t know what she would do without the mentoring program” as it gives her a much needed break and the children much-needed individual attention that she does not have the time or energy to give.
Renee’s grandchildren have not always been in her custody and might not remain under her care. The mentoring program facilitates close friendships between dependable adult mentors and children in dire need of a stable relationship to help them cope with the instability of their situations. Most importantly, mentors show these children there are options for their lives. They learn their future is not predetermined. They do not have to wind up in prison, as is six times more likely for them than for their peers.
Want to help break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration? Contact us about becoming a mentor today!
