Young Fathers Project

The FY 2014 Second Chance Act Strengthening Relationships Between Young Fathers and Their Children: A Reentry Mentoring Project helps ensure that the transition young fathers make from secure confinement facilities back to their families and their communities is successful and promotes public safety. This program will fund mentoring and comprehensive transitional services, emphasizing developing parenting skills, to offenders who are young fathers. The goals of the program are to reduce recidivism among young fathers; improve outcomes for young fathers, their children, and family members; and promote responsible fatherhood. The objectives of this program are to provide young fathers with supportive mentoring and transitional services in both confinement and in the community based on and matched to their assessed risks and parenting needsthat support their successful reentry.

Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota will utilize funding from their existing grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Grant Program, services to participants will be augmented as follows: case management, pre-release relationship and parenting classes, and pre-employment training. The project will undertake three objectives: (1) assess the eligibility and needs of young incarcerated fathers under 25 who will live in Sioux Falls or Rapid City upon release; (2) match young fathers with staff Re-Entry Coaches who will connect with the young fathers prior to reentry and mentor them during release and reentry; and (3) provide fathers in Rapid City and Sioux Falls with regularly scheduled and developmentally appropriate group and family activities to help them improve their parenting skills, life skills, and relationships with their children.

CA/NCF