Indiana has one of the highest rates of children with parents who are or have ever been incarcerated.
This is according to a study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, an organization that researches and works to improve the lives of children around the U.S. Each year, it releases the National Kids Count Data Book, which provides statistics about children on a state-by-state basis.
In 2016, the foundation released a report showing that Indiana has the second highest number of children with parents who are or have ever been incarcerated as of 2012. The report, titled “A Shared Sentence,” discusses some of the ways children are affected by having incarcerated parents, including declines in financial, physical, mental and emotional well-being.
The problems children face when their parents are incarcerated is nothing new to Rick Wilson, executive director of New Leaf Mentoring, a program for children with incarcerated parents. It pairs children one-to-one with adult mentors in the community and provides a variety of activities for them.
The program exists for a few reasons. One, it provides a positive adult role model for children who might not otherwise have one, Wilson said. It also provides a safe place for children to learn positive social skills with children who are often going through similar experiences.
“These kids need guidance,” he said. “For a young person that doesn’t have that, they tend to turn to the wrong people for their direction.”
Wilson said he often sees boys acting out in anger and girls who are withdrawn and shy, but as they meet with their mentors and the other children, Wilson sees improvements in their behavior.
David Parkhurst has been a mentor through the program for the last five years. He said he heard about New Leaf through his church, Maple Grove Community Church, and he’s been meeting with Dalton Roark ever since.
Parkhurst said he’s seen a big difference in Roark’s behavior over the last few years. When they started meeting, Roark was dealing with an array of emotional problems and was closed off.
“Emotionally, he’s really come out of his shell,” Parkhurst said.
The program asks mentors to meet with their mentees at least an hour a week, but Parkhurst said there are weeks where he and Roark meet two or three times. They’ll go on bike rides, visit museums and work on things in Parkhurst’s home machine shop.
Roark said Parkhurst has helped him grow over the last few years, teaching him about responsibility and respect.
Parkhurst said he’ll never forget the day he asked Roark what he liked about New Leaf.
“He said ‘Nobody judges me,’” Parkhurst said.
Though the program pairs children with mentors one-on-one, it offers several group events to allow the children to socialize. A few times a month, children can visit The Connection in Kokomo, which has a gym where they can play while their guardians can take a break and relax.
They can also attend art nights at Indiana University Kokomo, where the children work on different art projects with students from the university, and sometimes the group gathers in the park to play games and hang out together.
For Khloe Brittain, these group events are important. She and her younger brother, Gage Scoles, were involved with Reach and Rise mentoring through the YMCA, which provides mentoring for a year. Through Reach and Rise, she was able to connect with New Leaf.
Currently, Brittain does not have a personal mentor through New Leaf, but she said the group activities provide a place for her to meet with her friends through the program, and her brother seems to enjoy it as well.
”I wanted to come here and have fun,” she said. “I like it. It’s nice, fun, and it gives us something to do.”
The program has no trouble finding young people to participate in New Leaf, but he is always in need of more mentors. Right now, they have a few students who do not yet have mentors, but his goal is to have a match for every child.