Working with Incarcerated Parents and their Children
to Achieve Positive Outcomes
Tuesday, June 4, 2013, 3:00-4:30 EST
This free peer-to-peer webinar was organized by the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections for the National Association of State Foster Care Managers. The webinar featured presentations from Iowa and New York, which addressed child welfare system collaborations with Departments of Corrections (DOC). Iowa presented information about engaging incarcerated parents at the state level and at the local level through the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility Project. Iowa discussed issues of training, barriers, and lessons learned regarding the local pilot child welfare system-DOC collaboration, as well as the State-level DHS-DOC collaboration undertaken as part of Iowa’s Program Improvement Plan implementation. New York, in partnership with The Osborne Association’s New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents, presented on achieving permanency and well-being for children of incarcerated parents. New York presenters discussed the importance of visiting and maintaining relationships to achieving permanency and well-being for children/youth in foster care with incarcerated parents, and shared information about televisiting as one strategy for maintaining connections, as well as the role of kinship caregivers and foster parents as critical partners. The NY presentation provided information about Office of Children and Family Services collaboration with the NY State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, as well as NY Chapter 113 of the laws of 2010, which highlights discretion when considering termination of parental rights and other issues related to incarcerated parents and parents in residential substance abuse treatment with children in foster care. The webinar closed with a question and answer/discussion period.
Listening Time: 85 minutes
Presenters Bios
Iowa
Kara Lynn Regula is the Child and Family Service Review (CFSR), title IV-B, and Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) Coordinator for the Iowa Department of Human Services, Iowa’s child welfare agency. Ms. Regula, a licensed Master’s level social worker (LMSW), has worked for the Iowa Department of Human Services for more than 10 years, with most of those years in child welfare. Ms. Regula also is the policy program manager for the Iowa Department of Human Services’ Responsible Fatherhood/Non-Custodial Parent (NCP) initiative. In this role, she has collaborated with Iowa Child Support Recovery, Iowa Department of Corrections, Parent Partners, Juvenile Court, and community agencies to promote engagement of fathers and NCPs within the child welfare system.
Andrea Wright is an Executive Officer with the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) at the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility. She graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a BA in Sociology and Criminology. Ms. Wright has worked for the DOC for 27 years in various capacities. Currently, she works to enhance the success of offenders entering the community via overseeing and monitoring DOC case management policy at the institution and addressing release issues. Ms. Wright also serves as a consultant and liaison to community based corrections and institutional staff statewide. Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility is a 1,000 bed medium security prison, with approximately 900 male offenders and 100 female offenders, specializing in sex offender treatment. Ms. Wright has been instrumental in several ground breaking pilot programs including the DHS/DOC collaboration which placed Department of Human Services social workers in the prison to assist offenders so they may become an important part of their children’s lives, even though they cannot be physically present.
New York
Tom Hoeg has 27 years with New York State Office of Children and Family Services. He has served in positions ranging from direct care staff, case manager, assistant director and facility director in OCFS Residential Facilities, and interim director of the Bureau of Counseling Services. Currently, Tom is a policy analyst in the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Development (SPPD) with responsibilities focusing on juvenile justice, Medicaid enrollment, and children with incarcerated parents. He currently represents SPPD on the advisory board of the Office of Mental Health Garret Lee Smith Memorial Act (suicide prevention) and the advisory council of the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) pertaining to preventive measures to reduce underage drinking. Tom also represents OCFS SPPD on the partnership for the New York Initiative of the Children of Incarcerated Parents. Tom is pursuing his Masters in Liberal Studies with a focus on Issues in Today’s Society. His thesis topic is PTSD in Child Abuse Victims and veterans with combat exposure.
New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents, The Osborne Association
Allison Hollihan, LMHC, is a program manager for the New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents at the Osborne Association. In addition to advocating for policies and practices that support children of incarcerated parents, Ms. Hollihan oversees the Osborne Association’s Televisiting Program which is the only program in New York State that enables children to virtually visit their incarcerated parent using video technology. Prior to earning a master‘s degree in Urban Policy Analysis from the New School, Ms. Hollihan practiced in the child welfare arena as a foster care case manager and supervisor in Cook County, Illinois. Ms. Hollihan’s policy and advocacy work is informed by her clinical and social work background.
Tanya Krupat,LMSW, MPHhas focused on children of incarcerated parents for more than a decade, with an emphasis on visiting and the importance of supporting the maintenance of the parent-child relationship. She is currently the Program Director of the New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents, and Children and Youth Services at The Osborne Association. Prior to joining The Osborne Association in 2006, Tanya worked at the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) – New York City’s child welfare agency – where she focused on improving family visiting practices for children in foster care, including when their parents are incarcerated, and helped start the country’s only program for children with incarcerated parents within a child welfare agency. Tanya has also served as the Family Services Coordinator in a medium security women’s prison in New York.
11-OCFS-ADM-7: New York Administrative Directive on Incarcerated Parents and Parents in Residential Substance Abuse Treatment with Children in Foster Care: Termination of Parental Rights and Other Issues. (June 15, 2011)
Federal Title IV-E Guardianship Assistance Program State Policies and Laws
The Children’s Bureau and NRCPFC have compiled information from States that have been approved to operate the Title IV-E GAP program. Based on the information provided in States’ IV-E plans, this list provides links to States’ Guardianship laws, policies, and other additional forms, such as the Guardianship Agreement. State contact information is also provided here when available. (2012)
