The Impact of Family Visitation on Incarcerated Youth's Behavior and School Performance Findings from the Families as Partners Project
Overview
From February 2010 through March 2013, Vera’s Family Justice Program partnered with the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) on the Families as Partners project. The work sought to promote better outcomes for incarcerated youth by helping staff draw on youth’s families as a source of material and emotional support, encouraging visits and correspondence between youth and their families, and increasing family involvement in youth’s treatment and reentry plans. DYS is the first agency to implement Vera’s Juvenile Relational Inquiry Tool, which helps staff identify youth’s family and social support. The research component of the project looked at associations between family support and outcomes for youth during their incarceration. This brief summarizes the findings.
