TYRO Dad Young Fathers Mentoring 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 needs----that support their successful reentry.

The purpose of this project is to support successful transition of young fathers from prison back to their families and communities, via responsible fatherhood and healthy marriage programming, mentoring, and transitional case management services. The RIDGE project is also a recipient of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Grant and the HHS Responsible Fatherhood Reentry Grant, and will utilize funding from OJJDP to further enhance their projects by offering services to young incarcerated fathers under age 25 at Southeastern Correctional Complex, located in Lancaster, Ohio who are scheduled for release before July 1, 2016.

The goals of the project are to (1) reduce recidivism among young fathers; (2) strengthen relationships between young fathers, their children, and their spouse/partner; and (3) increase economic stability of young reentering fathers and their families. Program objectives include: (1) less than 3% recidivism rate for at least 3 months following release; (2) 90% of completers report improved relationships with their children, 3 months after TYRO Dads; (3) 80% of completers report improved relationships with their spouse/partner, 3 months after Couple Communication; (4) at least 75% of married program completers remain married for at least 3 months following release; and (5) 75% of completers obtain full-time employment, within 3 months of release, maintain employment for at least 90 days, and earn at least $10 per hour after 90 days of employment.

CA/NCF