PROJECT WHAT!: Were Here And Talking

Project WHAT! (PW) raises awareness about the impacts of parental incarceration on children, with the long-term goal of improving services and policies that affect these children. WHAT! stands for We’re Here & Talking, which is exactly what the team is doing. Over 7 million children have a parent under supervision of the criminal justice system—on parole, probation, or incarcerated. The program employs young people who have experienced parental incarceration—or those who have a parent under the supervision of the criminal justice system—as the primary curriculum content developers and facilitators for trainings. The perspectives of the youth are central to this project. One participant says,

“What I remember most is just missing [mom] tremendously. On days like my first day of kindergarten or my birthday it was always sad because she couldn’t be there for me. Mother’s Day was the hardest, because I remember buying her flowers, and then my dad telling me that I couldn’t give them to her. It was these little things that affected me the most. Throughout her incarceration, I was fortunate enough to visit her and stay in close touch, but it is important to understand that most people don’t have that. When a parent is taken away from you, there is nothing in the world that can replace them.”

PW was launched in 2006 by Community Works. In year one, the youth were instrumental in researching, creating, and piloting a training curriculum for teachers and social workers. The interactive training provides participants with tools to effectively serve children with parents under the supervision of the criminal justice system. Recently, the team expanded its target audiences to include additional service providers, public officials and agency leadership.

By September 2008, the PW team reached over 1,800 service providers, administrators, other adults, and youth through 28 trainings and presentations. Participants included caregivers at the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and their Families Children’s Summit; foster care professionals at the Casey Family Programs Annual “It’s My Life” Conferences; physicians, hospital personnel, and community health workers at Oakland Children’s Hospital; staff and interns at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children; social workers, parole officers, and community service providers at a conference sponsored by the Greater Bay Area Child Abuse Prevention Coalition; educators at the Teachers 4 Social Justice Annual Conferences; and family service providers at Alameda County First 5.

The PW team also developed the Resource Guide for Teens with a Parent in Prison or Jail. The eighty-page guide, originally released in May 2007 and updated in May 2008, answers common questions that children have when a parent is incarcerated. It has an entire section that explains complex jail and prison visiting procedures in plain language. It also includes compelling stories written by youth, along with a CD of the stories read aloud. The guide is being distributed to more than 1,000 youth and service providers through community agencies, via free download on our website, and at conferences. Youth who want a free copy should contact the Community Works office.

Project WHAT! was launched with a generous grant from the Zellerbach Family Foundation. We have also received support from the June & Julian Foss Foundation, Youth Funding Youth Ideas, San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, East Bay Community Foundation, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, Youth Grants 4 Youth Action, Bank of the West, GGS Foundation, Morris Stulsaft Foundation, and generous individuals.

HIRING YOUTH

We have completed the hiring process for 2009/2010. The next hiring period will be Spring 2010.

In order to work with Project WHAT!, at least one of your parents MUST have been incarcerated at some point in your life, and YOU must be willing to speak publicly about how their incarceration affected your life. These are PAID part-time positions. Pay starts at $8/hour for the summer training. If you complete the summer training, you will be paid $10/hour at the beginning of the school year, and can work your way up to $12/hour. We ask for a one-year commitment from you.

Project WHAT! Recruitment Flyer

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wednesday, July 15, 2009: San Francisco
Training for summer interns at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. This event is NOT open to the public.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009: San Francisco
Training for San Francisco Unified School District Student Support Staff. This event is NOT open to the public.

Saturday, October 3, 2009, 10am-3pm: Oakland, CA
First Ever Project WHAT Summit on Children of Incarcerated Parents. This event will be FREE and open to the public. We especially encourage youth and families impacted by a parent’s incarceration to attend. More information will be posted on our website soon. If you have questions, feel free to call us at (510) 486-2340.

Click here to view past Project WHAT! events.

RESOURCES

NEW! Download the Project WHAT! Resource Guide for Teens with a Parent in Prison or Jail, updated May 2008 PDF (This file is very large--11.4 MB. It may take a while to download, especially over a slow internet connection. Please be patient as it downloads).

The 80-page guide answers common questions that children have when a parent is incarcerated. It has an entire section that explains complex jail and prison visiting procedures in plain language. It also includes compelling stories written by the Project WHAT! youth, who themselves have dealt with a parent’s incarceration, along with a CD of the stories read aloud.

We want to hear from you! If you have used our guide and have feedback, please email us at projectwhat@gmail.com.

To get copies of the guide:

If you are a YOUTH, we will mail you a free copy. Please contact us and give us your name, age, phone number and full address. Also let us know how you heard about us. Thank you.

If you’re an agency or individual, for one guide, send us a check for $5 made out to Community Works, along with your name, full address and phone number. If you want multiple copies for your staff or youth, please contact us. If you cannot afford the $5 fee, please contact us and explain your situation, we can send limited copies to individuals free of charge.

Download the Project WHAT! Research Summary published in March 2007 pdf

Download a one-page fact sheet about Project WHAT! updated December 2008 word

MEDIA COVERAGE

Project WHAT! was featured on Bay Area ABC7 News. It aired on May 27, 2009, you can watch it here.

Watch a youtube video that tells you all about Project WHAT in less than 8 minutes!
part 1 part 2

Read personal stories from Project WHAT! youth, as published in The Beat Within:

Demel’s story—issue 12.27

Tiffany’s story—issue 12.28

Luis’ story—issue 12.29

Zoe’s story—issue 12.30

Anthony’s story—issue 12.33

Kashka’s story—issue 12.34

Marriah’s story—issue 12.35

Therese's story—issue 12.37

Kyle's story—issue 12.38

RiRi's story—issue 12.39

Joy's story—issue 13.39

Dominique's story—issue 13.40

Cheyanne's story—issue 13.41

Articles about Project WHAT!:

What Kids Can Do Feature Story link pdf

Vacaville Reporter pdf

Vallejo Times Herald pdf

Connections, the Journal of the National School Reform Faculty pdf

Radio Interviews:

Project WHAT! youth were interviewed for a half hour radio show broadcast on KALX/North Gate Radio. To hear our four-minute segment, click here.

If you would like to donate to Project WHAT!, please click on the link below.

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