A program to help vulnerable young mothers get where they want to go without getting stuck in juvenile court will be formally launched this morning.
Birthparent Mentoring Initiative, conceived by Common Pleas Judge Cheryl Allen and created by the Juvenile Court Project, provides lawyers for parents accused of abuse and neglect.
The goal of the initiative is to cut the Juvenile Court Project's business.
Project director Mark Edwards explained, "We all have known people who are on the fence in terms of their ability to get by, people who would benefit from knowing someone with life experience, someone who could help them get through the tough times in their lives so that problems don't seem so overwhelming and so they don't fall on the wrong side of the fence and end up in juvenile court," he said.
The initiative would match mothers aged 18 to 28 with seasoned women who would assist them.
Initiative staff will train mentors and the young mothers so that they know the boundaries of the relationship. For example, the mentors won't serve as baby sitters or lending officers.
But the mentors will listen to the young mothers, help them develop confidence and advise them on skills like appropriate workplace clothes and conversation.
DeLisa Coleman, who will add directing the initiative to her duties in the Juvenile Court Project's parental support unit, said the mentor will be a friend, not a second mother.
"We are not telling them how to parent but giving them support and assistance to make wise choices. It is coaching, advising," she said.
Coleman and Edwards hope to match 15 birth parents with mentors in the first six months, and another 15 in the following six months.
The idea is to gradually increase the initiative's size, and, eventually, to add a program for young fathers, Edwards said.
All of the mentors and young mothers would meet once a month for training, discussion and occasionally to attend cultural events.
The Parental Stress Center, a nonprofit group, has donated space for the meetings. The foundation of A Second Chance Inc., a nonprofit group that assists with kinship care, has donated money to start the initiative.
The program will formally begin at 8 this morning with a fund-raising breakfast at the Rivers Club, Downtown.