FY24

    The performance measures listed below trended upward for FY24.

    How Well

• % of children who are successfully connected to resources through the family advocate  
• % of caregivers/parents receiving home visiting services meeting one or more of their stated objectives from their goal plan
  • The performance measures above trended upward compared to the same period last year because the program more than doubled their annual goal for the numbers served
  • The warm handoff also contributed to the increase of referrals
  • Collaboration and service coordination was also a key factor to the upward trend.

Better Off

• % of incarcerated and or formerly incarcerated (who attended at least 75% of PFA classes) participants who report increased resources and supportive services available during/post incarceration 

• This performance measure trended upward because there were more participants who attended PFA classes compared to the same period last year.
• Another factor that contributed to the upward trend is more PFA participants reported increased resources and supports.

FY23

A “Story Behind the Curve" is not needed. This is a “New Scorecard”, there are no previous performance measures for comparison for FY23.

Several performance measures for the Parenting from Afar (PFA) participants trended significantly upward. Two performance measures significantly trended downward compared to the same period last year. 

The factors that contributed to the upward trend include:

• Year-round collaboration with Wells House facilities compared to FY21 which was six months.
• Access to the men’s Residential Treatment Center (RTC) for FY22 and continued access to the women’s RTC.
• An increase in the number of groups that were facilitated which resulted in a higher number of participants and surveys completed.
• The program served 111 participants in PFA for FY22, exceeding their annual goal of 40 participants.

Factors that contributed to downward trends include:

• The percentage of PFA participants who achieved a 75% attendance rate trended downward because some participants joined the class after the initial start while others left the treatment center before the conclusion of the class cycle.
• The numbers for one performance measure had a significant downward trend because the target populations who responded to the survey question (# of children for whom there is reported an improved relationship between the child and incarcerated parent OR the child and formerly incarcerated parent/caregiver) changed for FY22. Last year this data was collected from two target groups “formerly incarcerated parent/caregiver attending (two) community groups and formerly incarcerated parent/caregiver  creating goal plans and receiving one on one coaching.” For FY22, the data was only collected from one target group “# of formerly incarcerated parent/caregiver creating goal plans and receiving one on one coaching” services for several months at a minimum.

FY21 

The target population of caregivers and formerly incarcerated parents creating goal plans and receiving one-on-one coaching services increased for FY21 compared to FY20. FIIP hired a new family coach who utilized her experience and knowledge of the community to increase outreach. Collaborations with other community partners also supported the upward trended for this target population by referring individuals for family coaching services. While some performance measures trended downward, there was an increase in the number of performance measures that trended in the right direction.

There was no data available during HY1, for one target population and one key performance measure in the "How Much" category. This missing data in the “How Much” category affected the data trends for six other performance measures in the “How Well” and “Is Anyone Better Off” categories.

FY20

COVID19 severely limited FIIP’s ability to meet the three target population goals. Some factors that contributed to the decrease in the numbers served compared to the same period last year include: staff turnover, which required re-hiring and training during both reporting periods and because of COVID the inability to enter the detention center to complete and start other Parenting from Afar classes, as well as the inability to meet with groups in the community.

FY19

• In the Parenting from Afar course, some participants are released at different intervals depending on their sentence. The survey is currently administered one time at the 6th session of the course, resulting in a lower proportion of responses based on whoever is in attendance at that class.
• For the caregiver response rates the survey is administered at about the 4th visit depending on the progress of the client. Surveys are given to the clients to be completed and filled out later. Not all clients follow through with returning the survey in person or via mail.

FY18

• There is difficulty in attaining full program completion with women at the detention center. In many cases, these women leave group before the 8th session to go on to a prison, move to work release, go home, or are placed in isolation, none of which we can have control over.
• It is also to be noted that instead of incarcerating those with substance use and addiction, there is a movement to move them to a rehabilitation center. The program served a total of 54 women this program year. 
• The coaching services within the program had a slower start. There was a great deal of marketing and outreach that needed to be done.
• Staff needed hiring (the parent coach(es)) prior to getting the program underway.  Initially the program hired two part-time coaches, one who resigned shortly thereafter. The new coach started in January, quickly adapted to the position and service began.
• Each facet of the program is trending in the right direction. 

FY24

The Building Resiliency for Families Impacted by Incarceration (BRFII) program remained  a collaboration between the Mental Health Association (MHA) and the Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP).

            Partners include:  

• The Judy Center, The Orenda Center, and the YMCA-Head Start are Community Group Partners who recruit and host community groups.
• Dancing Bear Toys and Games and Curious Iguana Book store are community resource supports.                                       
• Olson House, Wells House, and Gale House are recruitment collaborators who host “Parenting from Afar” (PFA) groups.
• The Child Advocacy Center, Frederick County Public Schools, and Department of Social Services are referral sources.

FY23

The Building Resiliency for Families Impacted by Incarceration (BRFII) program is a collaboration between two entities, the Mental Health Association (MHA) and the Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP). The program has fostered meaningful relationships with agencies who are excellent at providing direct support to families impacted by incarceration.

Partners include:                                               

•  Olson House, Wells House, and Gale House are recruitment collaborators who host “Parenting from Afar” (PFA) groups.

• The Judy Center, The Orenda Center, and the YMCA-Head Start are Community Group Partners who recruit and host community groups.

• The Child Advocacy Center, Frederick County Public Schools, and Department of Social Services are referral sources.

• Dancing Bear Toys and Games and Curious Iguana Book store are community resource supports.

FY22

The FIIP program by design, is a collaboration between two larger entities, the Mental Health Association (MHA) and the Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP). The program has relationships with many agencies committed to providing direct support of the program:

• Frederick County Public Schools, the Office of Public Defender and Maryland Courts, DSS, and the Child Advocacy Center are referral sources.
• Frederick County Workforce Services, Curious Iguana Book Store, Dancing Bear Toys and Games, Second Chance Garage, United Way of Frederick County, the Housing Authority of Frederick County, Family Partnership, Habitat for Humanity, and Legal Services of Frederick County Court are Community Resource Supports.
• The Orenda Center, YMCA-Head Start, and the Judy Center are Community Group Partners.
• COIPP, MHA, Gale House, Wells House, and the Frederick County Adult Detention Center are “Parenting from Afar” collaborators.

FY21

• Frederick County Public Schools, the Office of Public Defender and Maryland Courts, DSS are Referral Sources
• Workforce, Dancing Bear, Curious Iguana, Second Chance Garage are Community Resource Supports
• Healthy Families Frederick, The YMCA are Community Group Partners
• COIPP, MHA, Gale House, Wells House and the Frederick County Adult Detention Center are “Parenting from Afar” collaborators

FY20

This program, by design, is a collaboration between two larger entities, the Mental Health Association (MHA) and the Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP). The program has relationships with many agencies committed to providing direct support of the program:

• Frederick County Adult Detention Center (FCADC)
• Frederick County YMCA Head Start program
• Frederick County Department of Social Services
• Frederick County Child Advocacy Center
• National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated 
• Curious Iguana and Dancing Bear

The FIIP Community Advisory Board (CAB) is comprised of members of the community from:

Head Start, the Judy Center, Frederick County Workforce Services, the FCADC, Parole and Probation, Office of Children and Families, a client, MHA, and COIP. They have shown to be dedicated to the development and implementation of processes that will meet the challenges the program is facing due to the pandemic and other circumstances. The Advisory Board has met and continues to meet monthly rather than bimonthly. This is to continually tackle the issues FIIP struggles with in order to help reach their performance measures to ultimately better serve the Frederick Community. The FCADC Reentry Coordinator and FIIP’s Family Coach have begun a partnership that should increase the number of Family Coach referrals while simultaneously reducing the rate of recidivism.  Local agencies such as Head Start, Housing Authority and the Judy Center have agreed to partner with FIIP, so they can better meet their performance measurements during the pandemic. 

FY19

This program, by design, is a collaboration between two larger entities, the Mental Health Association (MHA) and the Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP). The program has relationships with many agencies committed to providing direct support of the program:

• Frederick County Adult Detention Center (FCADC)
• Frederick County YMCA Head Start program
• Frederick County Department of Social Services
• Frederick County Child Advocacy Center
• National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated.  
• Frederick County Child Advocacy Center
• Curious Iguana

The FCADC allows RIIEC access to the detention center to facilitate Parenting from Afar. The YMCA Head Start program provides space for the community based grief and loss course and also directly refers Head Start parents to the coaching program. The Frederick County Child Advocacy Center will continue to support MHA in exploring the implementation of trauma awareness in their program and provide guidance on dealing with children with significant loss. RIIEC participants also benefit from discounts and donations on books about coping with feelings, grief and loss and a variety of other issues from Curious Iguana, a local book store.

FY24

• Collaboration between community partners remains a key factor to this program’s success.
• Warm handoffs supported the increase in the number of caregivers and or formerly incarcerated parents who received home visiting services.
• The program staff attended several Parenting from Afar classes at the residential programs to start the engagement process (PFA) and to generate referrals.
• PFA classes and community workshops use client evaluations to report the impact of the class. Those evaluations include feedback on usefulness, quality, and availability of resources.

FY23

• The program has been fully staffed and as a result the number of caregivers and/or formerly incarcerated parents who received services has increased.
• The impact on home visiting clients is measured by observing the reduction in the FAST assessment scores from intake to discharge (or 6-month intervals). The monitoring of completing goals, action items, and connecting to resources ensures continued progress in programming. 
• PFA classes and community workshops use client evaluations to report the impact of the class. Those evaluations include feedback on usefulness, quality, and availability of resources.

FY22

• Collaboration continued to be a key factor in the provision of services to the three target populations.
• The ongoing partnership with the Wells House organization and several of their programs has resulted in the provision of services to formerly incarcerated individuals, who also struggle with substance use issues.
• The strategies utilized to measure if family coaching participants are better off is by observing the reduction in the Family Advocacy and Support Tool (FAST) assessment scores, the number of action items completed for each participant, the number of goals completed, and the amount of community resources that the participant has been connected to from the time of intake to completion of the program.
• Family coaching participants are surveyed throughout the program for their feedback.
• Parenting From Afar and the community group participants also provide feedback in the form of a survey at the conclusion of the PFA classes and the community group sessions.

FY21

• Collaborations continued to be a key factor in the provision of services to the three target populations.
• A new partnership was developed with Wells House organization and serval of their programs. This collaboration resulted in the provision of services to formerly incarcerated individuals who also struggled with substance use issues.
• The ongoing partnership with community agencies including local businesses has been and continues to be essential in providing resources to families and children.

FY20

• Persistence in maintaining contact with the Detention Center staff and community partners
• Inviting a Detention Center staff member to be a part of the Community Advisory Board (CAB)
• Hosting daily story time on Facebook for children and families impacted by incarceration (https://www.facebook.com/ChildrenOfIncarceratedParentsPartnership/)
• The FIIP Community Advisory Board increased the frequency of their meetings to plan outreach and explore service delivery options, etc.
• The FIIP staff created and disseminated resources including 80 mini idea books for families. Bundle packaged resources and books were also mailed to families
• Curious Iguana and Dancing Bear collaborated with FIIP to assemble “Bundle Packs” consisting of books, games and resources.  These packs were mailed and delivered to approximately 80 caregivers and children during 4th quarter.

FY19

• The Families Impacted by Incarceration Program (FIIP) and Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP) program continued collaboration in FY19, with several community partners including Headstart and the Housing Authority/Lucas Village) by providing workshops on site for residents and consumers.
• There were also several outreach events to Parole and Probation, the States Attorney Office and the Police Activities League (PAL) Center. 
• COIPP the subcontractor for the FIIP program hired two male staff during the 3rd quarter of FY19. Said staff completed the Detention Center mandated training. Upon completion of the training, the new staff started a “Parenting from Afar” course for incarcerated men at the Detention Center.
• The Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership hosted many outreach events for families impacted by incarceration. The events included weekly “Coffee with COIPP,” and monthly activities for the children of incarcerated parents.

FY20

Standardize the documentation process and increase virtual intakes to the parent coaching population. Plan and implement virtual community groups. Planned utilization of the FIIP Facebook page to post mini video presentations on different topics. Increase the number of program participants by conducting outreach to:

• Detention Center officials
• Court Judges
• The Probation Office
• Community Partners

FY19

• In an attempt to get more surveys from the Parenting from Afar participants, the survey will be administered to individuals who may have missed the 6th course if they are still incarcerated.
• For the caregiver participants, the staff will attempt to get individuals to complete the survey in person.

FY18

• Program staff will build upon the current momentum and increase enrollment in each program segment.
• Staff will continue to use direct marketing to receive community referrals and work with parenting group participants to gain access to the caregivers for coaching.
• Coaching staff will be more present in the parenting groups. This will give participants an immediate known community based resource to connect with upon release.
• Finally, the program will incorporate data collection for the children to determine how the quality of their lives improves over the course of participation.

FY24

The Building Resilient Families Program exceeded their annual goal  of 100 for the number of participants served. 246 individuals were served among the three target populations which include the following:

• 77 adults with a history of incarceration attended Parenting from  Afar (PFA) classes  
• 71 adults impacted by incarceration participated in community groups which is the highest annual number since the inception of this program 
• 44 caregivers and or formerly incarcerated parents received home visiting services and created goal plans which is also the highest annual number since the start of the program
  • 54 unduplicated children were connected to resources among the 44 caregivers and or formerly incarcerated parents who received home visiting services

FY23

• The program is fully staffed, which increased their capacity to meet and exceed the target number of caregivers and or formerly incarcerated parents who received services.
•  27 children impacted by incarceration were served and 93% were connected to resources.
• One client stayed engaged in services for over a year and remains engaged. Said client had difficulty affording presents for his two children. Staff was able to assist by connecting him with a local charitable organization to obtain presents in time for Christmas. 
• Another client was interested in increasing his knowledge around parenting. The Family Advocate was able to provide a referral to a Parent Coach. 
• A client, who was living in transitional housing with the help of the Family Advocate, was able to receive resources and financial information that has helped the client begin the process of buying a home.
• The BRFII staff continues to support participants in other areas that include boundary setting with family members, connections to mental health services, and financial resources.  
• The Family Advocate engaged with two participants who were 9 months pregnant and have been homeless for the past three years living in a tent within Frederick. The advocate was successful in connecting these parents to the Religious Coalition’s Family Housing Center.
• The program supported a formerly incarcerated divorced parent  to access equine therapy for his child to help in establishing boundaries and self-control. The program paid for the equine therapy and after 8 sessions the child was taught how to control their horse, (how to ride, direct, and motion) which resulted in understanding what boundaries mean and the importance of self-control. The child seems happier, can articulate their own boundaries, and is now able to respect others.

FY22

• Families Impacted by Incarceration Program (FIIP) and Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP) were able to facilitate more PFA classes and community groups this year at the YMCA-Head start program and at the Orenda Center.
• Parenting from Afar classes continue to flourish at the Wells House residential facilities which provided PFA classes to 111 participants for FY22.
• The program served 174 individuals which exceeded their annual goal of 100 individuals served among the three-target populations.
• The hiring of a Family Coach, Program Manager, and Director enhanced and formalized service strategies for participants in the implementation of the FAST assessment and goal plans. The FAST assessment screens for ACEs, trauma, and protective factors.
• The Family Coaching program was able to connect a newly single mother and her two young children to mental health resources, summer activities for the children, and education about the incarceration process.
• The Family Coaching program supported a father with young twins by connecting them to resources that included the “Empowering Fathers” classes at Family Partnership, childcare scholarships to get his children into day care, and taking a small vacation to learn to invest in self-care.

FY21

• FIIP and COIPP were able to form a partnership with Gail House Residential Treatment Center to facilitate Parenting from Afar (PFA) classes for participants who are released from the Frederick County Detention Center
• Parenting from Afar (PFA) classes resumed at a new location, Gale House during FY2.
• 23 formerly incarcerated parents attended PFA classes for HY2
• The hiring of a family coached increased the number of caregivers and formerly incarcerated parents served for FY21.

FY20

• The program and staff transitioned from delivering in person services to virtual services for two of the three target populations served.
• The “Parenting from Afar group that was held at the Detention Center served 66 of 72 participants and achieved 92% of their annual goal for this target population.
• The number of participants who rated the parenting classes as very good or “excellent” on a Leikert scale increased from last year.
• Despite the cancellation of the parenting from Afar classes two months into the 2^nd reporting period, 52% of the participants rated classes as “very good or “excellent” compared to FY19 full year data of 59% of participants who responded positively.
• The Families Impacted by Incarceration Program (FIIP) created and began the Community Advisory Board (CAB) during FY20, with input from Ann Adalist Estrin, Director of the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated at Rutgers University–Camden, NJ.
• Ms. Adalist Estrin also met with the Community Advisory Board (CAB) at the October meeting to educate the board members about the unique trauma incarceration can cause in a child's life.

FY21 

During HY1, one key performance measure (# of unduplicated incarcerated parents at the Adult Detention Center receiving “Parenting from Afar” classes) in the How Well category affected the data trends for six other performance measures in the categories of “How Well” and Is Anyone Better Off?”

The “Parenting from Afar classes” that were facilitated at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center (FCADC) was cancelled by FCADC due to the COVID-19 social distancing mandates. As a result, no data was available for this target population for the first half of FY21. The performance measures that were affected are as follows:

How Much PMs

1. # of unduplicated incarcerated parents at the Adult Detention Center receiving Parenting from Afar classes

How Well PMs

2. # of (unduplicated) incarcerated parents rating the Parenting from Afar course as “very good” or “excellent” on a Leikert scale
3. % of (unduplicated) incarcerated parents rating the Parenting from Afar course as “very good” or “excellent” on a Leikert scale
4. # of incarcerated parents attending at least 75%  of the Parenting from Afar classes
5. % of incarcerated parents attending at least 75%  of the Parenting from Afar classes

Better Off PMs

6. # of incarcerated parents reporting increased  knowledge at the end of the Parenting from Afar course
7. % of incarcerated parents reporting increased  knowledge at the end of the Parenting from Afar course