Mentoring Children of Prisoners
When U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched its Mentoring Children
of Prisoners initiative in, MANY was asked to develop training and technical assistance
support for the newly funded grantees and to outreach to potential grantees in order to
assist them in developing an application for federal funding. As a result, we had the
opportunity to learn a great deal about this body of work, the experts that support its
development, and the resources that support effective implementation. As one grantee
stated “It is unusual to find an agency with such diverse training skills and an
intricate understanding of the issues facing children of incarcerated parents.
They do great work and I would recommend them to anyone in need of training or
technical assistance”.
- Amachi: In 1999, MANY began working with the Amachi program during its pilot
phase in Philadelphia. Amachi is a faith-based mentoring model for children of
prisoners launched by Dr. Rev. W. Wilson Goode in partnership with Public Private
Ventures and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. Recognizing the unique
characteristics of this program, MANY developed a customized T&TA model to
support the development of this initiative. The impact of this work is demonstrated
by program outcomes that far exceed targets.
“Our Volunteer Coordinators are still talking about the training they had with
MANY and how useful it was” -- Dr. Wilson Goode.