COMMUNITY SUPPORTS FOR CHILDREN, PARENTS, & FAMILIES AFFECTED BY PARENTAL INCARCERATION
This external link to a DSHS webpage for Children with an Incarcerated Parent. This external link to a Washington’s Mental Health Referral Service for Children and Teens connects patients and families with evidence-supported outpatient mental health services in their community. This free, telephone-based referral service is funded by Washington Healthcare Authority and operated by Seattle Children’s. We Got Us Now is the first of its kind nonprofit (501c3) nonpartisan advocacy organization amplifying nationally the collateral consequences children and young adults with incarcerated parents face due to mass incarceration. The Family Help Line is a toll-free number from anywhere in Washington State, available to parents, caregivers, and anyone who has an interest in or questions about a child in their community. They can help find resources, parenting classes, community resources, including a searchable resource database. Interpreter services are available. IMAP is a coalition of law students, attorneys, social service providers, and formerly incarcerated women who seek to change the rights afforded incarcerated and previously incarcerated women in Washington. To get involved with IMAP, please contact Erika Pablo-Koche at koche1410@gmail.com. This external link to a Partnerships for Action, Voices for Empowerment (PAVE) webpage A non-profit organization representing people confined in Washington’s institutions. CLS now focuses on serving people whose access to free legal services is restricted, due to institutionalized or immigration status. They also produced this memorandum containing a list of legal resources for people living in institutions across WA State. A non-profit organization protecting the rights of people with special medical issues and/or disabilities living inside institutions or outside in community statewide, including free services to people with disabilities. They accept collect calls from institutions. Please consider requesting services from them directly. Legal Voice advances the legal rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ people through ground-breaking lawsuits, legislative advocacy, and legal education materials. Legal Voice provides tools and resources for women and girls in need of legal services, including resources for incarcerated women and girls. The founders of Revive Center for Returning Citizens began organizing justice-involved populations in 2013 as a grassroots policy advocacy group called “I Did the Time”. After working hand in hand with peers, members of this group began to identify the common struggles among citizens who were returning to society from jails, institutions, and prisons. “Re-entry is a process, not a program.” The Reentry Initiated through Services and Education provides family law-related legal services to formerly incarcerated mothers. RISE can assist with parenting plans, non-parental custody, dissolution, domestic violence orders, and open adoption issues. Mothers seeking support must be income eligible for legal services and other restrictions may apply. Contact Northwest Justice Project at the CLEAR line to screen for eligibility. The Legal Clinic at Spokane Dream Center provides free, limited legal counsel for those in the Spokane area who cannot afford to hire an attorney. Although they are not able to represent anyone in court, they are able to give legal advice, as well as referral to attorneys in the area. Empowering the community through advocacy and access. The Way to Justice is a community law firm led and created by women of color. Through direct representation, impact litigation, policy reform, and advocacy work, we address the barriers facing individuals who have been negatively impacted by our justice system. FEPPS, a nonprofit organization that receives no state funding, a college program open to people incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor, WA. Students work towards an Associate of Arts degree accredited by Tacoma Community College and a Bachelor of Arts degree accredited by the University of Puget Sound. Their faculty is made up of professors and teachers from colleges, universities and schools across the Puget Sound. Along with local organizations, The Seattle Public Library offers court-involved individuals—and their families—information and resources to help during and after incarceration. They have also compiled the following program resources (reading lists and audio recordings). University Beyond Bars (UBB) provides higher education to people behind bars to fulfill the potential of those our society has imprisoned and to transform them into productive, contributing citizens. It works to create a cooperative learning community inside Washington State prisons where all experience is valued and the benefits of higher education are made available to all who desire them. A group at the University of Washington promoting improved educational opportunity for incarcerated students. They have created shared learning environments (like an Honors seminar attended by incarcerated and non-incarcerated students at the Monroe Correctional Complex) and organize community events focused on ending the school to prison pipeline.Kid Support
Parent Support