SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN OF INCARCERATED PARENTS (SCIP)

INTRODUCTION

SCIP is an AFIFA project driven by the understanding that every child needs love, comfort, and care of both parents at the very least. SCIP as one of the projects of AFIFA will also be run in the four counties; Kakamega. Vihiga, Busia, Bungoma. Children whose parents have been incarcerated are the target beneficiaries from all the learning institutions partnering with AFIFA.SCIP aims at protecting the child because it appreciates that more often than not, the lack of such ambience in the life of a child potentiates:

Varying mental health problems, This results from time to time ridicule from fellow peers .the moment a child loses their primary caregivers, they are exposed to the harshness in the society either no one to protect them. They deviate to other means of survival that they were not accustomed to and have to figure out things on their own. They are forced to make both impromptu and bad decisions. With time, they reach a point where there is no white or black, its just grey and at this is critical stage for any child.

Homelessness and reverting to street life. Due to lack of proper or assured shelter most of the children suffering from the incarceration of their parents often leave home or lose their homes. They leave home because the conditions of living at their guardians home is not favorable as a result of their basic needs not being looked into, as well as, losing their homestead properties to other relatives who seize opportunities to take ownership of the properties of the incarcerated family member.
Dropping out of school. leaving school before completion is a normal course for children whose parents are serving time. They lose hope and thus disregard education. Some leave school because their needs at schools cannot be met, some are forced to stay at home because of fear of taunting and bullying from fellow peers
Malnutrition; without a reliable source of income form their guardians, meals are hard to come by. Households that are child headed barely make it through a meal in a day. Malnutrition and diseases related to lack of proper nutrition creeps in, and as the say goes, a hungry nation is a sick nation and so is a poor nation.

INTRODUCTION CONT.....

Early pregnancies and early marriages, this adversely affects the girl child. The bigger girls in a child headed household are always forced to leave school and get marriage so that they can provide basic needs to their younger siblings. This always turn out badly for once they are in the family way, they get added responsibilities than they can manage early pregnancies is also common for young girls who do not have any source of family support are lured into exchange of sex for their hygiene products. Most of these sexual relations are always unprotected for the girls are naïve, thus they get exposed to STIs and pregnancies.
Entanglement with the criminal-justice system. It’s said that the apple does not fall far from the tree. This is a true and proud comment to make in situations where there is success or good performances originating from the genetically make up of parents but it’s a sad and grave comment where a child whose parent has been incarcerated is involved due to lack of psychosocial support most if this children turn to habbits; such as,dealing drugs,shoplifting,burglary,e.t.c. that put them at loggerheads with the justice system.whenenver a child is arrested and put under juvenile sentence,they grow in to the habbit and tend to feel that’s the norm.they become a force to reckon with for they get used to jail,become jailbirds and the vicious cycle of incarceration can never be completely dealt with.
Extreme violation of human rights;most of the children whose parents are serving time o not have a voice in the community.they are stripped off their rights in day to day life.most suffer child labour,sexual harassment and defilement,their education is terminated.they get denied basis services because they are children whose parents acted against the law and so they are the immediate recipients of a vicious angry community who seek nothing but vengeance for the sins of their parents.

OBJECTIVES

SCIP as a project of AFIFA is geared towards creating a haven for the children of incarcerated parents. It accesses these children through schools partnering with AFIFA under the SCIP project. SCIP provides psychological support and empowerment to enable those children to fit in the society despite lacking one or both parents due to incarceration.
SCIP works towards achieving its mission through the following objectives:

Facilitating continuity in education
Setting up psychological counseling programs
Bridging the gap brought by the incarceration of parents by planned prison visits.
Creating awarenesss on the omportance of upholding the laws of the land.
Sensitizing the community on human rights.
Facilitating forums where children and teenagers can be taught about their rights and freedoms.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

SCIP’s main activities are centered around the wellbeing of the children suffering from the effects of parental incarceration, both by physical, social and psychological growth and development.
SCIP engages in the following activities:
Sourcing for and award of scholarships along the learning continuum of the AFIFA scholars in primary, secondary and post secondary levels, while providing the necessary learning supplies
Distribution of school uniforms, home clothes, footwear and school bags to needy AFIFA scholars
Sponsoring school lunch programs to needy SCIP scholars in AFIFA partnering schools to ensure that they have at least a meal a day.
Supply of personal hygiene products to affected girls in AFIFA partnering schools.
Providing psychosocial support through events and mentorship programs
Offering opportunities for connectivity in the global village through a regulated penpal platform.
Identifying, nurturing and development of skills and talents through the After School Program (ASP) within schools partnering with AFIFA.
Offering temporary accommodation and/or constructing houses to families without proper and standard shelter.
Establishing and setting up a child friendly recreational facilities at a centralized area within the four counties of operations.

SELECTION CRITERIA

SCIP intends to use a fair and just way of identifying and taking on board children who suffer from the effects of incarceration of their primary care givers.

SCIP SERVICE PROVIDERS AND PARTNERS

SERVICE PROVIDERS

SCIP intends to work with the following service providers and partners;

Available primary caregivers.
Teachers
Local authorites
Religious leaders
AFIFA community workers;-fields officers for various units in under SCIP.

PARTNERS

Correctional units within the counties of operation
SOS
MTI
FIDA
COMPASSION
INICEF
WORLD VISION
LEARNING INSTITUITIONS
PUBLISHING FIRMS
LEGAL FIRMS
VARIOUS MEDIA SERVICES

AFIFA ORGANIZATIONAL Q & As

LEGAL STATUS

Registered as Non-Governmental Organization, under the Kenya NGO coordination act,1990 on 8/07/2022 REGISTRATION NUMBER
OP.218/051/22-026/12580

TARGET AREAS

Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma, and Busia Counties

TARGET GROUP

Families (Women and Children) of the incarcerated

ORGANIZATION HISTORY

Advocacy for incarcerated families (AFIFA), arose from observations noted in the course of interacting (as educators) over seven years with families seeking education for their children noting that parents whose spouses were incarcerated faced associated incapacitating adverse effects. Then was mooted the initiative to collectively advocate for uncuffing the affected women and children from the resultant double retribution phenomenon and with the aim of making them productive members of the development process.

MISSION

Palliating the backlash of incarceration on the family (women and children) through improvement of access to quality education, welfare ,relief from poverty, promotion of human rights and good governance.

VISION

Resilient community-incubated families with innovative approaches to absorb and positively adapt to the adverse effects of incarceration and participate actively in nation building.

CORE VALUES

Compassion ,justice, integrity, collaboration, transparency.

AREAS OF CONCERN

Sustainable Development, Human Rights, Equality and Equity, Child And Adult Education, Women empowerment.

OUR STRATEGY

Influencing policies through advocacy.
Child education support through sponsorship and supply of school uniforms.
Networking through partnership with like-minded organizations,
Monitoring and evaluation through intervention research,
Participatory planning and implementation,
Capacity building and awareness creation through Community Based Organizations, Faith Based Organization and Self-help groups,
Food security through improved Agricultural productivity and livelihood together with host school lunch initiative,
Psychosocial support through peer support-groups and psychological counseling
Connectivity and belonging through pen-pals and exchange programs.
Family economic empowerment through income generating activities
Talent identification and development through the after school program.
Defending rights of the incarcerated families through legal representation.

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY

PARTNERS

Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA)
Mediation Training Institute (MTI) East Africa
Department of Gender and social services
Child welfare services
Human rights Agencies
Ministry of Education
Association of Counselors
Department of correction services
Law Society of Kenya (LSK)