New DOC Program Strengthens Families and Improves Public Safety

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                      February 20, 2008

OLYMPIA – A program to enhance public safety by strengthening the bonds between offenders and their children will start in Spokane Feb. 21 and extend to Tacoma and other communities later this year.

The Strengthening Families Program is one of a number of Department of Corrections initiatives to make the public safer by reducing the risk that offenders under court-ordered community supervision by DOC will re-offend. Among other things, the program helps offenders improve communication with their children in order to reduce family conflict. 

“Stable families contribute to the fabric of communities making them safer and stronger,” said Mary Leftridge Byrd, Assistant Secretary for Offender Treatment and Re-entry Programs. “This program helps reconnect offenders with their families and communities, helping to reduce intergenerational crime and its consequences.”

Studies have shown that family connections are important in determining an offender’s chances of leading a crime-free life after release from confinement. A 2004 study by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy reported that the Strengthening Families Program results in $7.82 in public benefits for every $1.00 spent on the program.

The seven-week Strengthening Families curriculum will be taught by approximately 30 DOC Community Corrections staff who have been trained in the curriculum across the state.

Each of the weekly two-hour sessions will help families build on their strengths, encourage appreciation for one another, improve caregiver relationships with children and decrease the likelihood of family conflict and risky adolescent behavior.

Parents or primary caregivers and children are separated for the first hour in order to receive generation-specific courses. Parents learn to set appropriate limits with their children, make living rules and manage stress. They also learn to encourage positive behavior and protect against substance abuse. Children receive separate classes on resisting peer pressure, and dealing with stress and the negative consequences of substance abuse.

After the separate sessions, the groups combine for goal setting and programs on appreciating each other and improving communication.

The program addresses key issues associated with children of offenders such as higher risk for drug use, behavior problems, and mental health problems. It also helps prevent these children from becoming offenders themselves.

Family programs are often part of an offender’s supervision or prison requirements. Other DOC family programs include, Partners in Parenting, Long Distance Dads, Nurturing Fathers and Love and Logic.

The program is being offered to any offender on supervision who has children between the ages of 10 and 14. Caregivers such as grandparents, significant others and other family members are also encouraged to participate.

Spokane is the first community to implement the program for DOC offenders. Tacoma and Olympia will begin the program in March.

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