Teresina Gray-Morgan (left) and Loren de Leon, family case managers at Family Bodega, recently began an intensive certificate program to become alcohol and substance abuse counselors (CASACs). This is a personal and professional achievement and an important step toward their other goals.
The process of CASAC certification will enhance
Loren and Teresina’s skills in working with Family Bodega participants in Brownsville/East New York—and of course, from a family-focused, strength-based perspective!

Teresina and Loren are an inspiration to the participants of Family Bodega, our direct-service learning center in Brooklyn, and to their colleagues at Family Justice. We are proud of them for taking the initiative to further their professional development and deepen Family Bodega’s capacity. Congratulations!

As I travel to Ohio, Chicago, and California, I am reminded that gangs and gang violence are a concern to many providers of youth services around the country. Family Justice has received funding from the New York City Council and the Achelis and Bodman Foundations to explore the impact of a family-focused, strength-based approach when engaging young people affiliated with gangs or at risk of becoming members. It is clear that the resiliency of young people affected by gangs and gang violence lies in their strength to tap their social support networks.

I am the chair of the Data and Research Work Group for the NY Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents. The Initiative, started by the Osborne Association, brings together government agencies and other organizations to advocate for supportive policy in a number of arenas related to children of incarcerated parents.

More than 1.7 million children in the United States have a parent who is incarcerated in a state or federal prison. However, data about these children are not collected on a systemic level. This means we don’t know how far away children are from their parent(s), nor who is taking care of them or how many children with incarcerated parents live in particular regions of the state—or for that matter, in other parts of the country. On a policy level, this directly affects budgeting for programs, service provision, and advocacy for policies to keep family members geographically closer.

My time in Singapore last week was incredible. Often accompanied by the endlessly helpful and personable Tanny Ng and Ricky Eu, who work with Singapore Prison Service, I attended inspiring events, visited programs that do important work with families, saw a few sights, and ate terrific food, both from street vendors and at dinners celebrating the Yellow Ribbon Project.

Outside The Helping Hand,
a drug treatment halfway house that also works with formerly incarcerated people, are (from left) Chin Mien,
a Singapore Prison Service counselor; me; Richard Khalil, The Helping Hand’s executive director; Tanny Ng, manpower planning executive for the Singapore Prison Service; and Ricky Eu, an officer with the Housing Unit of SPS.