Children of Incarcerated Parents

While Amachi would help the congregations extend and fulfill their missions,
it was also important to pastors that there was a structure provided for them to
work within and resources to support that structure. Amachi had clearly defined
roles and responsibilities.What was asked of each church was specific and far
from overwhelming: 10 mentors who would each commit to meeting with a
child for at least one hour a week for one year; a limited amount of paperwork,
including the monthly collection of data on mentors’ and children’s meetings;
and a coordinator who would manage Amachi at that church.The church was
not responsible for recruiting children, screening or training mentors, making
the matches, or providing the forms of support and supervision that were to be
handled by BBBS. And Amachi would provide funding for the coordinator’s
position and to help cover other expenses.
“It was a program that brought its own support,” said one pastor.“It gave us
resources, manpower, to extend what we were doing. Amachi did the organizing
for us.” Or, in the words of another pastor, it provided the church with “the
ability to go into the community in a systematic form and reach children that
need support and guidance.”
The buy-in from the pastors was a key step in the process. Next, the pastors
had to convey the message to their congregations and inspire the members to
reach out as mentors.
Recruiting Mentors
The pastors got right to work recruiting volunteers. Some spoke individually
to members of the congregation who they believed would make good mentors.
Others made announcements at worship services and church meetings to ask
people who were interested to step forward. A number of pastors also invited
Rev. Goode to come to the church and speak about Amachi.
Within a few months, this process produced the names of nearly 400 potential
mentors from the 42 churches. Each of the volunteers had to go through
BBBS’s rigorous screening process.This included completing an application
form, being interviewed by BBBS staff, and undergoing a criminal background
check and a child abuse clearance. Each was also required to provide three references,
and one of those references had to be from their pastor.
22
AMACHI