Adjunct Instructor Aids Children of Incarcerated Parents

Twice the winner of the Outstanding Graduate School Instructor for Hood College, Shari Ostrow-Scher has been an adjunct in the Curriculum and Instruction Graduate Program for over 10 years, while continuing to lead curricular programs for young children with the Frederick County Public Schools.

In 2004, Shari established the Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP), which each year has expanded its services to meet the needs of children of inmates in the Frederick County Detention Center.  Shari has single-handedly taken this interagency group from a small beginning to highly respected and influential organization that has been featured in various media and has received acclaim far and wide.

As stated on the non-profit’s website, COIPP believes that children of incarcerated parents “lack a voice of their own. Our… mission is to give them such a voice in the community, in the schools, and in their family.”

This voluntary group has accomplished much in the past few years. Projects include: creation of a library/book giveaway for children in the F.C. Detention Center waiting room; resource baggies for children and their caregivers; ‘Caregivers day out’ at the Frederick School of Cosmetology; creation of a DVD on this topic; donations and resource packets to local camps created for the children; and much more.  Learn more at http://www.coipp.org