Grant Would Address Needs Of Incarcerated Parents And Their Children

UCHRA plans to apply for a grant that would address the needs of incarcerated parents and their minor children.

UCHRA Executive Director Mark Farley said the agency would use the funding to provide a more conducive environment for children visiting incarcerated parents.

“Obviously, a lot of our correction facilities have gone to doing things over video,” Farley said. “This would be trying to fix it to where if children are talking to their parents, they’re not going to be seeing the cold cell. Maybe trying to come up with a better environment for them to communicate with their parents.But mainly, more than anything, it’s to get wraparound services to help those children while their parents are incarcerated.”

The office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention funds the grant through the Second Chance Act. If awarded, UCHRA would utilize the funding in Cumberland, DeKalb, Putnam, and Van Buren Counties.

“We’ve got to build a budget to submit to them,” Farley said. “What we’re looking at is probably just one position to facilitate that, and then building in some wraparound services.”

The UCHRA Executive Committee voted to apply for the grant during last week’s meeting.