SEEDLING FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
Seedling's Mission is to mitigate the impact of parental incarceration on children in Central Texas through school-based mentoring. Seedling's Vision is that every child in Central Texas impacted by parental incarceration can thrive.
About This Cause
The Seedling Mentor Program is modeled after the most successful, research-based mentoring programs in the country, and is endorsed by the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated. Seedling's model is based on research that shows mentoring to be a major protective factor in building resilience among at-risk youth (Dubois & Karcher, 2005). Seedling mentors are matched with children ranging from kindergarten through 8th grade, and continues to support matches through the 2nd year of post-high school graduation. Students are identified by parents, teachers, principals, counselors, or other adults. Most children (94%) in the Seedling program are considered economically disadvantaged and are at or below the federal poverty line. Since 2006, Seedling has served over 3,000 students, with a presence in 148 schools and in 19 school districts and charters. Seedling has proven results in affecting the academic and behavior outcomes of students, as measured by independent annual evaluations (Karen Looby), and has gained local, regional, and national attention and awards for its success in matching children and mentors in a large urban school district. Seedling is hailed as one of the top mentoring programs in the nation, with an annual mentor retention rate of 70-80% (far exceeding the national average), a proven track record of establishing strong bonds over multiple years with children, and providing high-level, nationally accredited training to its staff supporting the mentor volunteers. Seedling operates year-round, although mentor volunteers meet with students only during the school year. When school is not in session, Seedling is actively recruiting volunteers, providing training, and reconnecting with children in the program who have moved or changed caregivers/foster homes. For middle school and up, Seedling provides a secure, monitored SMS text platform for mentors and mentees to communicate. During summer, Seedling offers a pen-pal program for mentors and mentees to send mailed correspondence through the Seedling office. Seedling is currently in its 18th school year of operation working specifically with this vulnerable population of children. The program’s success is well-documented, offering significant academic and behavioral benefits to children of prisoners, and the program receives high acclaim from school administrators, counselors, teachers, and caregivers, as well as the students themselves. Many children of prisoners live with grandparents or other relatives, some are in foster homes. Children affected by parental incarceration can suffer from guilt, anger, shame, and stigma. In other situations resulting in the separation from one or both parents, such as divorce, illness, or death, there are both formal and informal social and psychological support systems. For the children of the incarcerated, the same feelings of loss and instability occur, with the additional burden of the undeserved stigma revolving around the “cycle of incarceration”, which perpetuates the belief that the children will grow up to make the same mistakes as their parents. The children of prisoners often have to cope with the additional financial loss and housing instability that comes with the incarceration of a parent, as well as the logistical difficulty of continuing contact with a parent after their arrest. Prisons and jails are often located far from the homes of the incarcerated, making visitation difficult in terms of both time and money. This unsupported psychological and financial trauma, which can be further exacerbated by the child being witness to the arrest of the parent or the parent being incarcerated multiple times, can lead to abandonment and trust issues, which can manifest in any number of internal and external symptoms, which often go unnoticed or untreated. These unique factors make parental incarceration an often ignored topic, particularly for the children directly affected by it. This lack of dialogue and support combine to make the children of the incarcerated a vast but silent population, and one that is steadily on the rise. • Parental incarceration is recognized as an “Adverse Childhood Experience” as defined by the unique combination of trauma, shame, and stigma. (Hariston, C.F., 2007) • Those incarcerated for drug or public order-related offenses are most likely (59%) to report having children. Just over half of all incarcerated parents (52% of mothers and 54% of fathers) were the primary financial contributors in their families at the time of their arrest, meaning that the disruption in their children’s lives is not just emotional. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008) • Despite concerns for the well-being of this population, few preventive interventions have been developed or adapted for the children of incarcerated parents. However, the most popular intervention, by far, has been more limited in scope, namely volunteer mentoring. Only recently did it come to be viewed as an intervention of exceptional significance. (Dubois & Karcher, 2014) • Researchers found that higher-risk students in mentoring relationships improved their emotional or psychological well-being, peer relationships, academic attitudes, and self-reported grades. (Herrera, DuBois, and Grossman, 2013) • In an analysis of 73 mentoring program evaluations, mentoring was found to influence the social-emotional, cognitive, and identity development of children (Dubois, et al, 2011). According to childhood resiliency studies, children coping with extreme risk factors can prosper when they have relationships with consistent, caring adults. When the children’s emotional needs are addressed, the result is less stress on the family already coping with extraordinary challenges. Mentoring programs have been proposed as an effective support for children with incarcerated parents. In a study where more than one-third of the mentored youth had a close family member who was incarcerated or often in trouble with the law, researchers (Herrera, DuBois, and Grossman, 2013) found that higher-risk students in mentoring relationships improved their emotional or psychological well-being, peer relationships, academic attitudes, and self-reported grades. In another meta-analysis of 73 mentoring program evaluations (Dubois et al, 2011), mentoring was found to influence the social-emotional, cognitive, and identity development of children. The mentoring relationship provided an environment where children could acquire enhanced thinking or problem-solving skills and become more receptive to adult instruction and perspectives. By modeling caring and providing support, mentors could confront negative perceptions the children may have of themselves and show the possibilities of positive relationships with adults. Mentoring relationships also may provide opportunities to facilitate identity development, which builds a sense of who the mentees are currently and who they may be in the future. The development of social-emotional, cognitive, and identity processes is understood to build simultaneously over time. As the implementation of mentoring programs has grown over the past 20 years, school-based mentoring has been the fastest-growing approach and accounts for nearly half of all youth mentoring programs (Schwartz, Rhodes, & Chan, 2011; DuBois & Karcher, 2005). School-based mentoring provides an opportunity for students to participate in the mentoring experience when they might not have the opportunity outside of the school day (Grossman, Chan, Schwarts, & Rhodes, 2011). Mentors participating in school-based mentoring tend to be more demographically diverse, compared to mentors in community-based mentoring programs (Grossman, Chan, Schwartz & Rhodes, 2011). Within this context, mentors and mentees meet at the school during school hours. During this time, mentors and mentees engage in activities together, including talking, playing games, reading, or other academic-related activities. With school-based mentoring, a variety of community members are connected with the daily academic and social experiences of the students in the school setting (Grossman, Chan, Schwartz, & Rhodes, 2011). Building a relationship within this context communicates the importance of schooling and may improve students’ experiences in and outlook on school. Further, school-based mentoring programs can capitalize on the knowledge, referrals, supervision, and support of many of the adults within the school setting. The support of school staff assists program staff in the support and monitoring of the mentoring relationships. Likewise, when mentors are included in the school environments, they may seek assistance as needed and better advocate on behalf of the child. Annually, Seedling hires an independent evaluator to measure the outcomes of the mentoring program. The annual evaluations show the program can have a significant impact, specifically on the academic and behavioral outcomes of students with incarcerated parents. Seedling mentee attendance rates are comparable to other students within their schools, which is considered positive, given that the students are a highly mobile population and have experienced circumstances that negatively influenced regular school attendance. Since school attendance is a widely recognized predictor of academic success and dropping out of school, the regular school attendance of most Seedling students is an important factor in their overall school success. (Dr. Karen Looby, 2012) Most mentees report positive personal outcomes as a result of their mentoring experience. Mentees report feeling good about themselves, working through problems better because of help from their mentors, avoiding drugs and alcohol, making better grades and better choices because of help from their mentors, and they report looking forward to seeing their mentors. Students appreciate their mentors and attend school more often, in part to avoid missing their mentor. Mentees also report better self-esteem, higher grades, and better decision-making. (Dr. Karen Looby, 2012)