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  Success Story: Paul and Susan

  Paul and Susan came to the Healthy Relationships: Successful Families (HR:SF) class because they were “mandated” to be there by the court. Both Susan and Paul told the coach they already had a very good relationship and did not think there was anything for them to learn. HR:SF is a twelve week class covering many aspects of relationships. There are role plays that help parents experience directly what the lesson is all about.
  
  During one lesson about communication and listening skills, Paul and Susan did a role play in front of the class. Susan started her part by asking her husband about his day, what he thought they should do with the children after dinner and about making plans for an outing over the weekend. Susan answered most of her own questions; her husband barely had a chance to speak. They looked at each other in disbelief. Their shock turned into a great “telling” moment for them – they both realized there was indeed a thing or two they could learn during this “mandated” class.
  
  Over the next weeks Susan and Paul were much more open to new ideas and willing to apply the tools presented during class. They would come to class and share how a new technique they had tried over the weekend had helped with their communication. Paul and Susan graduated the HR: SF class proudly. They recommend HR:SF to anyone interested in improving their relationship, adding, couples don’t have to be mandated to take the class to benefit from the great tools!

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  Success Story: Sarah

  Sarah is serving her second term in prison. She has two children, both of whom have been raised by her mother. Sarah is due for release in the next six months. In a recent parent panel Sarah shared her experience with the Parenting Inside Out program.
  
  “PIO helped me rebuild my family relationships, not just relationships with my children. I hated my mother, who is my children’s caregiver. She has taken care of my children since they were born and I was never really their mother. She wouldn’t bring my kids to see me. PIO gave me the skills to communicate with her and also the understanding of how to be a parent. Now my mom is my best friend and she brings my kids to see me all the time. My son is in the Early Head Start program. I spend two mornings a week in his class. I write to his teacher about his education and how he is doing. I never would have known how to do that before I took PIO. I didn’t know how to be my children’s champion and advocate.
  
  I had no confidence in myself. In PIO I accomplished something each week. Those little successes gave me the confidence to keep going; I was willing to try something bigger. Now I am part of my children’s lives. I am their mom. When I go home my mom will still be important to my children, but she will be able to be their grandmother, not their substitute mom. They will have both of us.”

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  Success Story: David

  David is the father of two children he had not seen in a year. He had very strained relationships with other family members and was not allowed to visit his twins.
  
  In 2007, David took Parenting Inside Out (PIO) at the Center for Family Success. He used the communication skills he learned in PIO to communicate with the twins’ mother. He was able to express his wishes and to listen to her concerns. She agreed to allow him supervised visits with the children.
  
  In 2008, David was in the pilot Healthy Relationships: Successful Families (HR:SF) class. Using the tools he learned, he continued to build a relationship with his children’s mother, allowing them to parent the children in a loving, consistent manner. Over time his visits increased to five days a week.
  
  When the twins’ mother began a new relationship, tensions arose and she began to restrict David’s access to the children. David used the problem solving skills he learned in PIO and HR: SF to try to work out a common agreement that met the needs and concerns of his children’s mother, her partner and him. They were unable to reach an agreement, but David is now using the documentation he developed for his conversation with the twins’ mother to seek visitation rights through the court.
  
  David is now in a healthy relationship and he and his partner use the skills he learned in HR: SF. He continues to touch base with Center staff, using them as a resource in his continued growth.

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  Success Story: Anthony

  In 2007, Anthony, father of five children ranging in age from six to eighteen and a twenty-year heroin addict, was convicted of child neglect and drug dealing. He was given a two year sentence and sent to the men’s prison in Salem, OR. Anthony was raised by parents who were addicts and who were involved in the criminal justice system.
  
  The children were put into foster care, Anthony was denied visits with his wife and the children, and he and his wife of twenty years were both required to take parenting classes. In 2008, Anthony enrolled in a Parenting Inside Out (PIO) class. A few weeks later his wife enrolled in a PIO class offered in the community. Though they were not allowed to see each other, Anthony and his wife communicated through letters, carrying on a dialog about their new parenting skills and sharing what they were learning in PIO.
  
  After the twelve week PIO program concluded, Anthony advocated with his counselor at the Department of Corrections (DOC) and the PIO parenting coach to request that his five children be allowed a supervised visit at the PIO graduation event. The request was granted and although his wife was not allowed to attend the graduation the inmate had another family member bring his children. He did a wonderful job balancing his time with his children when visiting them and practiced parenting to their individual needs.
  
  Because both parents took PIO and recognized the long term need for successful integration into the community, Anthony’s wife and family supported his decision to not return home right away and to go into an in-house drug treatment program. Upon his release from prison he entered a six month and was placed on one year post prison supervision.
  
  During this time, his wife successfully completed her PIO class in the community and was granted custody of their 5 children again. Six months after release from prison, the father completed the treatment program and gained employment. One year after release, he successfully completed post-prison supervision and requested from the courts and DHS to move back home with his wife and 5 children; the request was granted. He remains frees today.

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Core Principles

CJA’s Core Principles are built upon the foundation established by the Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights. We and other agencies have adopted these Core Principles as the foundation of the work we do.

Principle #1 – We believe that children are the priority and that we as a community have a collective responsibility to protect and parent children at every stage of their parent’s involvement in the criminal justice system.
Principle #2 – We will create a coordinated systemic response to serve the needs of the children, their justice-involved parent and the caregivers.
Principle #3 – We will support justice-involved parents and keep their children safe in their absence.
Principle #4 – As a caring community, we are dedicated to restoring or creating a sense of family for our children and their justice-involved parent.
Principle #5 – We believe primary responsibility for development and well-being of children lies within their family but the entire community must empower and support families as they raise their children.
Principle #6 – We are committed to provide parenting skills for justice-involved parents and the caregivers and to building stable family support systems for children, families and caregivers who are separated by incarceration.
Principle #7 – We believe that children and families exist as part of an interconnected system and children do better as parents do better.
Principle #8 – Children should be informed when decisions are being made about their parent and their needs should be considered.
Principle #9 – Children should have a voice when decisions are being made about them.
Principle #10 – Children should be able to speak with, see and touch their parent, when it is appropriate, possible and safe.

Children's Justice Alliance Mission

The Children's Justice Alliance (CJA) is a program of Pathfinders of Oregon that seeks to improve outcomes for children whose parents are involved in the criminal justice system. CJA accomplishes this mission through the following initiatives.

Our Initiatives

Supporting stable, healthy families

Through the Center for Family Success and other partnerships statewide, the Children’s Justice Alliance and its programs provide a continuum of comprehensive services to children of those who are involved in the criminal justice system, their parents, and their families.

Creating systems change

Through its policy and research efforts, public information campaigns and community trainings, the Children’s Justice Alliance promotes systems change and an awareness of its goals and mission.

Providing research leadership

Recognizing the importance of evidence-based and evidence-informed programs, the Children’s Justice Alliance, in cooperation with partners such as the Oregon Social Learning Center and Portland State University, actively assesses program results to ensure that services meet clients’ needs and produce reliable outcomes.