Children of Incarcerated Parents

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An Overview of the Churches The churches that became the first Amachi partners in Philadelphia are all Protestant denominations. Approximately half are Baptist, while the other half include Pentecostal, Lutheran, United Methodist, A.M.E., Seventh-Day Adventist, and a number of non-affiliated denominations. They range widely in size, in the percentage of members who live in the community, and in their previous experience with youth outreach and programming. The following information is drawn from Church Overview Forms completed by the pastors and includes data from 39 of the original 42 Amachi churches. Number of people enrolled in the congregation: Fewer than 100: 5 churches 300-500: 8 churches 100-200: 8 churches 500-999: 3 churches 200-300: 8 churches 1,000 or more: 7 churches Number who attend Sunday worship (suggesting some level of involvement): Fewer than 100: 8 churches 300-500: 6 churches 100-200: 8 churches More than 500: 6 churches 200-300: 11 churches Approximate percentage of members living within a five-block radius of the church: Less than 25 percent: 14 churches 50-74 percent: 7 churches 25-49 percent: 11 churches At least 75 percent: 7 churches Youth outreach ministries: Before their involvement in Amachi, approximately three-quarters of the churches had some kind of outreach program for children and youth. These included Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts; community service; after-school programs, including tutoring and homework help; Saturday enrichment programs (music, drama, tutoring, Bible class); computer literacy; discussion groups on youth issues, including problem-solving and conflict resolution; youth choir; dance groups; field trips; sports; summer day camp; and vacation Bible school. Among the churches with programs, anywhere from 5 to more than 100 children and youth regularly attended an activity during the week. Pastors all said that adult volunteers—the number was most often between 10 and 30—were actively involved in running the programming. Mentoring programs before Amachi: Among the churches, 12 said they had a mentoring program, although they were not structured one-to-one programs with formal matches. They included fellowship groups where adults and youth did activities together, such as monthly trips; groups, facilitated by adults, where youth discussed issues in their lives; and tutoring programs where adult tutors also developed informal mentoring relationships with the children. GETTING AMACHI UP AND RUNNING 19
P/PV staff tried to contact the pastors by leaving messages on the churches’ answering machines, but few of those messages resulted in a return call.They also made personal visits to some of the churches and left cards with custodians; but again, this process led to few responses. In some instances, they were able to find home numbers for the pastors in the telephone book, and messages left there met with more success.When pastors did return those calls, P/PV was able to get from them either their direct church number or, best of all, their cell phone number. Still, there were many pastors who could not be reached in this way, and their busy schedules made them difficult to track down. Finally, P/PV staff used the churches’ outdoor bulletin boards to learn which nights Bible study and prayer meetings were held, and organized personal visits to the churches on those nights. Rev. Goode would arrive a few minutes before the start of the program to visit with the pastor and obtain the necessary contact information, especially the valuable cell phone number. Delivering the Message Once the contact information had been obtained, it became possible to call the pastors directly and make an appointment to discuss the project. Rev. Goode made the initial visits. Having not talked with many of the pastors for a period of years, he wanted to re-establish a relationship with them and convey his personal interest in Amachi. His presentation to each pastor was brief and direct, and paralleled the presentations made to incarcerated parents. It focused on the nature of the problem— the 20,000 children of inmates in Philadelphia and the risks faced by those children, a number of whom lived in the community where the church was located. It described the benefits of mentoring and the crucial role the congregation could play in addressing the problem. Rev. Goode also undergirded his presentation with a strong theological foundation. Often, he spoke of Isaiah, who had a vision for a troubled city:“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings” (Isaiah 58:12, New International Version). Almost all of the pastors embraced Amachi. Of the 50 churches involved in the initial interviews, all but three expressed strong interest in the project. One of the three had a recently installed pastor who did not feel the time was right for his congregation to become involved.The other two expressed theological 20 AMACHI
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overwhelming amount of stress and c
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incarcerated parents to foster the
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causality, researchers have found a
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pregnancies leading to greater divo
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there has been a 13% decline in int
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to 90% of all US families. Accordin
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conciseness what 'everyone knew': t
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had contributed to apparent lower a
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ule of anthropology: That in all kn
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consequence of the social bias wome
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Sexual Violence A form of sexual vi
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Measures of Poverty An important as
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and have adequate shelter can make
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statistically determine the impover
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Policies Decision-Making Power Deci
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to parent teacher conferences. A re
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Also notable regarding the rise in
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Interestingly, the United States is
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women entered the workforce, divorc
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of 1996, instituted work requiremen
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prevalence of chronic illness, lead
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addition, many European countries o
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Page 99 and 100: THE MODEL Drawing on research on ef
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Page 146 and 147: Table of Contents I. Introduction.
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The Center for Children of Incarcer
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Ch i l d r e n o f In c a rc e r at
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Ch i l d r e n o f In c a r c e r a
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Advocacy Foundation Publishers The
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XVI for Drug-Free Communities Landm
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Vol. VIII 2022 ComeUnity ReEngineer
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Vol. XV 2029 Inner-Cities Revitaliz
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The e-Advocate Monthly Review 2018
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The e-Advocate Journal of Theologic
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Issue Title Quarterly Vol. I 2015 I
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The e-Advocate Juvenile Justice Rep
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2018 - The Theological Law Firm Aca
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www.TheAdvocacyFoundation.org Page
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