Rebuilding Families

Incarceration has significant and long lasting impacts on families. Rochester parents serving sentences of one year or under at Monroe Correctional Facility do not suffer the consequences alone; the children of incarcerated parents often lose contact with their parents and many times visits are rare. Children of incarcerated parents are more likely to drop out of school, engage in delinquent behavior, and subsequently be incarcerated themselves. 

Following a successful Pilot Program last year, the focus of NYSLC, in partnership with the Office of The Sheriff and Rochester Broadway Theater League, in �Rebuilding Families� is to rebuild and reaffirm the family for incarcerated parents and to reduce the impact of incarceration for their children. Evidence shows that family engagement while incarcerated and immediately after release reduces recidivism (The Sentencing Project, Research and Advocacy for Reform, Washington, D.C. 2009).

Rebuilding Families:

• Supports Parent / Child Relationships:  through programming that encourages good parenting as well as bonding with children.

• Enhances Reentry:  By developing a means for incarcerated parents to reunite with their children.

Rebuilding Families also develops:

• Communication and expressive skills;

• Social competencies, including empathy, respect for others, collaboration and team work skills, social tolerance, and self-confidence;

• A sense of self, well being, and community belonging.