Provide services to identify and reduce barriers faced by incarcerated parents as they reintegrate into their communities and families.

In September of 2000, the Oregon Department of Justice, Division of Child Support made a decision to form a statewide committee to examine the potential partnership possibilities to assist incarcerated parents in their transition out of institutions. The key partners identified were the Division of Child Support, Oregon Department of Corrections, Oregon Department of Human Services Adult and Family Services, community non-profit agencies, local sheriffs and county Adult Community Corrections programs. The first priority was to get child support program information into the state and local institutions. Inmates needed to know of the right to modify a support obligation while incarcerated and the right to request an additional modification once released if the pre-incarceration order did not match the post-incarceration income potential.

One of the substantial barriers to successful reintegration into the community was the overwhelming child support debt faced by ex-offenders, who either neglected to act on, or were unaware of, their right to modify a support order while incarcerated. Ex-offenders reported the despair felt when faced with a seemingly insurmountable child support debt and with an old order based on higher earnings often leaving the NCP with insufficient funds for self support. These people would either return to criminal means to support themselves, recidivate and return to prison or join the "shadow economy" working for cash under the table. In any case, they would cease contributing to the financial and emotional support of their children.

By an incidence of opportune timing, the Oregon Department of Corrections was examining their transitional practices when contacted by the Division of Child Support. A Division Program Representative was invited to join their group and participate as a member of several Transition Project subcommittees examining issues regarding inmate finance, transition curriculum, what information should be gathered at the intake process, and designing a release strategy that would optimize an inmate's chance of success. This partnership proved crucial and opened many lines of communication between two agencies that had previously known little about the other's mission.

In July 2000 the Oregon Child Support Program adopted Oregon Administrative Rule 461-200-3300. This rule established the rebuttable presumption that an inmate incarcerated in any state, county or municipal correctional facility for a period exceeding 180 days, if having an income of less than $200.00 per month, would be legally presumed unable to pay support. This presumption would entitle the inmate to request the order be modified to zero dollars per month while incarcerated but would revert to the original amount automatically on the 61^st day after release. Oregon Revised Statute 416.425 provides for the order to revert to the original amount. This rule and statute are available at www.state.or.us

The first task faced by the Division of Child Support's Incarcerated Parent Project was to identify information delivery methods. The committee decided that as over 90% of Oregon inmates are men, the first priority would be to establish a presence at the Intake Center, where all male inmates are processed.

Because it was determined impractical for Division personnel to personally provide program information to inmates, presentation materials, including a computerized slide presentation, frequently asked question handouts and phone lists were developed and taken to the institution. A Division Program Representative met with intake counselors and provided them with program information and resources including request for modification forms and postage paid envelopes. Counselors were provided an overview of the forms and a contact in their local office to call if any questions arose.

When the new intake center opens in April 2002, the Division will have a place in the intake curriculum to make in person presentations and speak to inmates about case specific issues.

A similar project is now underway for incarcerated women. The Corrections Department is currently consolidating women from three facilities into a new institution that will house all of Oregon's female inmates. The facility will open in two phases. The first group set to arrive in October 2001 and the process is scheduled to be completed in May 2002. With the logistical issues involved, it was decided to postpone full in-person inmate orientations until the first group arrives at the new facility. In the interim, a computerized slide presentation being developed will focus on issues specific to incarcerated mothers and will be available to the institutions currently housing women by the time of this publication. A counselor orientation is planned at the Oregon Women's Correctional Center, the facility housing the majority of incarcerated mothers, where handouts, forms, envelopes and other resources will be made available. Counselors will be also be provided contacts for answering case specific inquiries.

Oregon has 14 Department of Corrections facilities spread out across the state. While 9 of these are located in the Willamette Valley close to major population centers and 1 is located nearby on the central Oregon coast, 4 of the largest institutions are located in Eastern Oregon and 3 of those require a day's travel from the nearest Division office. Due to differing regional resource issues and the geographic concerns, a decision was made to have a two-tiered implementation strategy for the project.

In the Eastern Region, informational materials and forms have been distributed and program representatives have met with Corrections Division personnel. It is the region's plan to begin the second level of providing in-person services to these facilities within the year. In the more populous Western, Southwestern and Northern Regions, program personnel have regularly scheduled meeting days in 4 institutions where inmates can make appointments to discuss their cases. Arrangements are in process to expand into the remaining prisons in the coming year. The video tape, informational handouts and modification forms have been made available and counselor orientations have been done in all facilities in these regions. The Oregon State Penitentiary, the only maximum security prison in the state, shows the videotape regularly on their in-house cable network. Northern and Western Region personnel also participate in the Penitentiary's twice yearly Transition Fair, a behind-the-walls event coordinated by the Seventh Step Foundation, an inmate club dedicated to reducing recidivism. Working directly with the inmates, Division personnel are able to coordinate services and bring in participants and information from other agencies and community partners who provide services to these inmates once they transition back into their families and communities.

A videotape of an orientation session that includes spontaneous questions from inmates was sent to all institutions. The Oregon Summit Program at Shutter Creek Correctional Institution, Oregon's "Boot Camp" was chosen as the site for the video production. A local video production company was retained. A 43 minute video covering inmate rights and responsibilities, the modification process, child support calculation and guidelines, the grievance process, paternity establishment and stressing the importance of both parents being financially and emotionally involved in supporting children was produced, for less than $750.00, including music and graphics.

Anecdotal information shows that inmates, when advised of their rights to ensure an order reflects their current ability to pay, will request modifications. Obligors who have orders that are correct for their current circumstances are more likely to pay, and a paying parent is more likely to be a positive factor in the life of a child. Inmates routinely tell program personnel through letters and in person interviews that they are pleased the Division cares enough to come into the institutions to provide services, and have contacted caseworkers upon release to report their place of employment.

The benefits of partnership with the Corrections Division and County Probation and Parole are many. While inside, counselors can prepare inmates to face support responsibilities once released. The Transition Project of the Department of Corrections made increasing child support collections one of their benchmark goals. Probation officers are becoming knowledgeable and referring their clients to the Division for modifications of orders. While the project is young, great strides have been made toward providing services to these inmates and their families.

Discussions are underway on building a computerized link between the Child Support Enforcement Automated System and the Department of Corrections computer system. The goal is to allow automatic updates of certain fields that let both programs know that an individual is both incarcerated and has a child support case. This will help on enforcing cases where an incarcerated obligated parent still has the means to pay support, identify cases where modifications are necessary, update release information so that cases can be reactivated automatically and to eliminate the need to manually input prison locate information.

This project is being implemented in all prisons in the state. It serves both urban and rural participants. The program is being adapted to encompass all county jails in the state. Oregon has received inquiries from other states and out of state research foundations, and has sent presentation materials and videotapes upon request.

This project has been funded out of the budget of the Division of Child Support as it has required very little expenditure other than program personnel costs for time spent.

It is important to involve the Corrections Department personnel at all levels, and that to be successful, starting higher on the organizational chart was better. The first point of contact was at the Superintendent (or Warden) level. That office delegated a point of contact that in Oregon's case was usually a Deputy Superintendent. These are the visionaries in the organization and they see the larger picture. They were willing in Oregon's case to let staff know that they considered the program to be a priority and that cooperation was expected. There was some resistance at the line staff level. Some security personnel believed that the program was making things easy on criminals. Some counselors were concerned that they would have to become child support caseworkers and that their workload would be impacted. These issues can be addressed by showing workers how this program will help reduce recidivism and assist the inmate in reintegrating into the family and community. Counselors need to be assured that their workload won't be increased and that by learning enough about child support they will be able to refer an inmate to the proper service provider.

Oregon personnel also went through the Department's volunteer/contractor training for both state and federal institutions. This 5-hour state and 6-hour federal training gave important information in inmate behavior, institution operation and security issues. After completing the training, Division personnel were issued Corrections Department identification which allows unescorted access to all Department facilities. The federal system is slightly different, identification is created but remains at the facility and whether personnel are escorted or unescorted depends upon the security level at the institution. This training gave personnel better access to prisons and a better understanding of the correctional culture. Corrections personnel also appear more accepting of Division personnel who took the time on an evening or a Saturday to learn about the environment in which they would be presenting.

Thomas P. Tearnen, Community Outreach Representative, (503) 229-5825 ext. 373, Thomas.Tearnen@state.or.us