Practice Transfer: ICPA's 2024 Focus on Parenting from Prison and Family Engagement

ICPA2024 Presentation by Frank Porporino, Bob Goble, Seow Ling, and Viknesswari Nadarajan (ICPA2024-PID197)

There are many new ideas, practices or programs that emerge locally in one correctional agency that unfortunately remain only local in their impact. This Workshop will describe the aims of ICPA’s new Practice Transfer Advisory Committee (PTAC) in purposefully promoting exemplary and innovative practices. The Workshop will be divided into three parts. First, we will discuss the approach and methods that have been used in 2022 and 2023 to promote practice transfer, outline some of the successes and lessons learned along the way and conclude with a summary of what seems to lead to successful practice transfer. The second part of the Workshop will summarize what the PTAC has focused on for 2024.

We have used social media and other methods to raise awareness, promoting the concept of parenting and family engagement, both in prison and post-release. Two innovative practice examples will be highlighted, from Canada and the UK, that were featured this past year in an ICPA Learning Academy session. We will summarize the findings of a global survey of initiatives pursued for supporting more effective parenting from prison and family engagement. Finally, the third part of the Workshop will be devoted to describing another innovative practice in Singapore called Project Rekindle. It involves a restorative approach for mending relationships between incarcerated individuals and the families with which they have lost contact. We will end the Workshop with a short survey inviting attendees to support our PTAC in identifying a focal practice for 2025.

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Authors

Frank Porporino

Corrections & Criminal Justice Consultant, ACFP & ICPA, Canada

Frank Porporino has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and has sustained a close to 50-year career in corrections as a front-line practitioner, senior manager, researcher, educator, trainer, and consultant. Frank has promoted evidence-informed practice throughout his career and his contributions have been recognized with awards from a number of associations including the ACA, ICCA, Volunteers of America and the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA). Early in his career, Frank founded the Research Branch of Corrections Canada, an internationally recognized leader in applied research in corrections that has recently celebrated its 35th Anniversary. Frank was also a founding member of the HMMPS Correctional Services Accreditation Panel, a best practice review committee that was subsequently emulated by many jurisdictions.

He has remained active internationally providing training and technical assistance in effective practice in over 25 countries, most recently in Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan and Namibia. Currently Frank is serving as Editor of the ICPA practitioner-oriented Journal, Advancing Corrections, Chair of the ICPA R&D Network, member of the ICPA Practice Transfer Advisory Committee and Board Member and Secretary for the ICPA-North America Chapter. He has been a member of many ACA Committees, was a past member of the ICPA Board of Directors and is also Past-President of the International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology (IACFP).

Robert Goble

Executive Vice President Emeritus, Practice Transfer Taskforce, ICPA, USA/ CGL Companies

Bob Goble began professional practice as a facility planner for Dallas, Texas in 1971. Most of his experience has been in the planning of facilities for adult and juvenile corrections, detention, law enforcement, and courthouses. Some notable projects included: consulting planning in Singapore for the new Changi Prison Complex, Boys Home, Selarang Park Complex, Woodbridge Mental Health Center, Subordinate Courts Expansion plan; and correctional plans review for the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). He has also prepared operational systems evaluations plans and provided technical assistance and training for numerous government agencies. He served as an expert witness in USA Federal and state courts and authored 12 published articles and manuals on facilities and systems planning. Prior to helping establish CGL Mr. Goble was Assistant Director of the planning division of an international engineering firm. While In graduate school at the University of Illinois he was a Research Assistant and Writer for the “Quarterly Digest of Urban and Regional Research” and a graduate Teaching Assistant. His memberships have included: Chairman Board of Directors South Carolina Children’s Bureau; American Institute of Certified Planners; American Correctional Association; Chair ACA International Committee; and the International Corrections and Prisons Association. He is a past member of the ICPA Board of Directors, served as Treasurer, Program Committee member, is a member of the Practice Transfer Advisory Committee and the Board of the ICPA-North America Chapter.

Seow Ling

Co-Executive Director of Lutheran Community Care Services, Singapore Prison Service, Singapore

Seow Ling is a co-Executive Director of Lutheran Community Care Services (LCCS) in Singapore, a social service agency that advances the use of restorative practices. Seow Ling has a Master of Science (Community Service Management) from the University of Wales, Swansea and a Bachelor of Social Science (Hons) in Social Work from the National University of Singapore. She is also trained in restorative practices by the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP). Seow Ling has published a number of articles and presented at a number of regional and international conferences on “Restorative Justice and Social Work in Singapore”. She is part of the team that designed Project Rekindle and she is a member of the IIRP Board of Trustees and the Society Against Family Violence (SAFV) in Singapore.

Viknesswari Nadarajan

Team leader, Singapore Prison Service, Singapore

Viknesswari has more than 14 years of experience working within the Singapore Prison Service. She has carried out her duties over the years under several portfolios which include internal financial and operational audits, training and staff welfare. Currently she holds the position of team leader overseeing the operational activities in a correctional unit which houses about 300 incarcerated individuals. She is also actively involved in the reintegration and rehabilitation needs of these individuals.

Driven by the deep understanding of the pain caused by estrangement, Viknesswari spearheaded the creation of a program called "Project Rekindle". This initiative aims to support incarcerated individuals yearning to heal fractured relationships with their families. She strongly believes that family plays a pivotal role in providing a strong pro-social support for these individuals in their rehabilitation journey.

Practice Transfer: ICPA's 2024 Focus on Parenting from Prison and Family Engagement

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