2008 Woodie Awards
Mentoring program assists children of county prisoners
Sarah Hebbeler
Issue date: 11/2/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
By Sarah Hebbeler
Staff Reporter
Shela Van Ness, associate professor of sociology, anthropology, and geography, has received a grant of $136,972 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families to start the Pathways Program.
The Pathways Program is a mentoring program in Chattanooga for children of prisoners in Hamilton County.
One of the goals of the program is to help children improve communication with their parent(s) in prison.
A second goal is to help the students feel competent and learn academic skills to improve their self-esteem. The program has mentors who are matched with a child.
Van Ness has worked with delinquent children and found a lot of them had parents in prison.
She found they were more at risk for getting involved in drugs, running away and getting pregnant.
Van Ness said research shows children respond to mentoring, and that often painful circumstances can be prevented.
"Society has knowledge, so let's use it to make a change," she said.
The Pathways Program will also work with the offender and their family from the time they go to prison, to the time they are released.
According to Van Ness, there are 500 people from Hamilton County who go to prison each year, and the majority of them have been in prison before.
This means there are 7,000 children in Hamilton County who have a parent in prison. Pathways is hoping to match 125 of those children with adult mentors.
The children will range from ages 5 to 18 and are usually living with relatives or foster parents. Mentors will meet and telephone the child once a week, along with attending monthly dinners and social programs.
If a student wants to become a mentor, e-mail Van Ness at Shela-VanNess@utc.edu.
A mentor should be able to be in Chattanooga for a year, have transportation, go through a paid police background check and go through a six-hour training program.
The training will teach students how to think about child development and how children think.
Van Ness said a lot of children do not understand how the law works and blame themselves for their parent having to leave. This training will prepare mentors to guide and be a friend to a child.
Staff Reporter
Shela Van Ness, associate professor of sociology, anthropology, and geography, has received a grant of $136,972 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families to start the Pathways Program.
The Pathways Program is a mentoring program in Chattanooga for children of prisoners in Hamilton County.
One of the goals of the program is to help children improve communication with their parent(s) in prison.
A second goal is to help the students feel competent and learn academic skills to improve their self-esteem. The program has mentors who are matched with a child.
Van Ness has worked with delinquent children and found a lot of them had parents in prison.
She found they were more at risk for getting involved in drugs, running away and getting pregnant.
Van Ness said research shows children respond to mentoring, and that often painful circumstances can be prevented.
"Society has knowledge, so let's use it to make a change," she said.
The Pathways Program will also work with the offender and their family from the time they go to prison, to the time they are released.
According to Van Ness, there are 500 people from Hamilton County who go to prison each year, and the majority of them have been in prison before.
This means there are 7,000 children in Hamilton County who have a parent in prison. Pathways is hoping to match 125 of those children with adult mentors.
The children will range from ages 5 to 18 and are usually living with relatives or foster parents. Mentors will meet and telephone the child once a week, along with attending monthly dinners and social programs.
If a student wants to become a mentor, e-mail Van Ness at Shela-VanNess@utc.edu.
A mentor should be able to be in Chattanooga for a year, have transportation, go through a paid police background check and go through a six-hour training program.
The training will teach students how to think about child development and how children think.
Van Ness said a lot of children do not understand how the law works and blame themselves for their parent having to leave. This training will prepare mentors to guide and be a friend to a child.
