Next Step 2 Healthy Families Project

The FY 2016 Second Chance Act Strengthening Relationships Between Young Fathers, Young Mothers, and Their Children provides funding to support the successful transition of young fathers and mothers as they return to their families and communities from detention, out-of-home placement, or incarceration. This program funds coordinated and comprehensive strategies that incorporate (1) mentoring and transitional reentry services proven to reduce recidivism, (2) effective parenting skills development and parent/child relationship engagement for young fathers or mothers, and (3) private and community service partnerships that promote public safety and support added positive outcomes for young parents and their children.

The Next Step to Healthy Families (NS2HF) project will provide quality reentry services for justice-involved young mothers who reside in the West Central region of Indiana. The area being served contains the Rockville Corrections Facility, a prison for women, and the hub of the West Central correctional offices. Indiana State University and the Next Step Foundation, Inc. have developed the NS2HF to reduce recidivism and to encourage prosocial behaviors and family reunification. The project will work closely with Rockville Correctional Facility and Vigo County Community Corrections. It is anticipated that 200 justice-involved young mothers will be served in the 3-year period, resulting in reductions in recidivism, increased prosocial behaviors, increased desistance, and increased reunified stabilized families. Another desired outcome is that the mentored young mothers will become mentors to future cohorts. CA/NCF