On October 11th State Senator Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward) spoke at a press conference at Bible Way Christian Center in San Jose announcing $500,000 in funding to the County of Santa Clara Office of Diversion and Reentry Services for fellowship programs benefitting children of clients at four Faith-Based Reentry Resource Centers.
“Millions of minors in this country have lost parents to incarceration creating trauma, breaking up families, causing displacement, and a whole host of social and emotional challenges,” Senator Wahab said. “Personal attention, positive activities, and strong mentors uplift children’s lives, and are even more crucial for children with incarcerated parents. Funding to support some of our most vulnerable youth makes a huge impact in their lives and their communities, as we are all affected by how our youngest residents are treated.”
Four Faith-Based Reentry Resource Centers, which the County’s Office of Diversion and Reentry Services contracts with for client services and case management, will receive $125,000 to hire a fellow for each center. They will develop new and will improve existing programs to support the children of clients in areas such as tutoring, one-on-one mentoring, crisis intervention, counseling, parent, and children- focused groups, extracurricular activities, school-related activities like science camp, and links to other services.
“Even before the Reentry Resource Centers existed, our faith-based community organizations were doing the work of supporting families affected by incarceration,” said President of the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors, Susan Ellenberg. “Our County’s partnership with these organizations, formalized by the Faith Reentry Collaborative in 2012, has helped thousands of individuals and families in times of great need. We commend the State Senate for recognizing that track record and for allocating resources to these organizations to provide opportunities for the children of families who struggle immeasurably from the loss of family members to the justice system.”
Each of the four Faith-Based Reentry Resource Centers serve an average of 85 clients who have an average of 48 children within their families. The centers will each hire an individual who has formerly been incarcerated to provide programs and services to the families.
“The Faith-Based Reentry Centers have a long history of hiring people who have lived experience with incarceration,” said Rebecca Cardenaz, Program Manager of the County’s Faith-Based Reentry Program, operated by the Office of Diversion and Reentry Services. “Having lived through many of the same traumas, these individuals are uniquely equipped to relate to our client’s families. They will develop and implement meaningful programs that will empower our young people to envision the possibilities and act on opportunities to grow in positive directions.”