Sulaiman A. Wood, program manager for PHMC affiliate, Resources for Children’s Health’s Focus on Fathers program, has been invited to join the Advisory Committee to Review the Effects of Children of Incarcerated Parents convened by the Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission after passage of Pennsylvania House Resolution 203 and Senate Resolution 52.
The committee will study the effects of children with incarcerated parents and recommend a system for assessing their needs, the services available to them and barriers to accessing those services.
In the United States, more than 2 million children have an incarcerated parent and early 10 million children have or have had a parent under correctional supervision at some point in their life. Approximately 55% of men in state prisons are fathers of children under 18 years of age and nearly half of these fathers lived with their children before their arrest and incarceration.
Focus on Fathers provides parenting education and support services for fathers and male caretakers, many of whom have a history of incarceration. Focus on Fathers conducts its services in English and in Spanish and includes a formal parenting skills and education course, individual case management, peer support groups and father-child activities. For more information, contact Sulaiman A. Wood, 267-765-2324, or swood@phmc.org.
