Family & Corrections Network

     

Children of Prisoners Training

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Prison and Jail Visiting - Preparation and Follow Up

Workshop Topics

1. Visiting in the context of relationships

·        Benefits to children

·        Benefits to caregivers

·        Benefits to prisoner

·        Benefits to correctional staff

 

2. How developmental needs of children affect visiting

 

3. Obstacles to visiting prisons and jails

 

4. Program, practice and policy solutions

 

PRISON VISITING can be stressful for visitors, staff and prisoners, as the following story illustrates. Names have been changed to protect privacy.

 

Viola’s Story:

“We travel a long distance and pay a lot for transportation to visit him. It is really an effort to get there, and then we are told to wait, often outside no matter what the weather. When we get in, sometimes we don’t even get to visit. I didn’t know at first that I couldn’t wear sleeveless dresses and that I needed picture ID. Henry was supposed to tell me the rules, but in the beginning I couldn’t afford his collect calls.  Now that I know, I get it right.

 

“It is hard in the visiting room. Jimmy can’t sit still and the officers don’t understand that he is a very active 6-year-old boy! Anyway, we run out of things to say to each other, Henry and I. We are ok with each other but I am afraid to tell him things that will make him sad about the outside, and he is afraid that Jimmy and I will be bored or worried if he talks about his life.  I also don’t want to bring up problems or argue. Eventually everybody is on edge but we came so far, we miss him so much and want this visit to be perfect.

 

“Sometimes Henry tries to play with Jimmy, but Jimmy gets pigheaded and wants to win so Henry gets angry and Jimmy gets more difficult and Henry gets mad at me. He goes to a parenting class and wants me to try to do things the way his teacher says. But it‘s not the way I was raised, so I end up feeling like he is criticizing me…”  *

 

 

FEATURED PRESENTER: Ann Adalist-Estrin, M.S. is the author of the Children of Prisoners Library and co-author of Responding to Children and Families of Prisoners: A Community Guide. She is a Child and Family Therapist and Director of BRIDGES: Parent-Child Counseling and Consultation Services in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. She is an author, speaker and consultant to a wide variety of agencies serving children and families in the United States and Canada. Her seminar topics span a wide range of interests and ages and are popular with parents and professionals alike.

Ann Adalist-Estrin was Founder and Director of the Parent Resource Center in Wyncote, Pennsylvania and Director of Incarcerated Parents and Their Children – Consulting Services. She is a trainer for the Healthy Steps For Young Children Project at Boston University School of Medicine. She is an Affiliated Consultant with Family and Corrections Network. She regularly teaches a seminar for childcare directors at Holy Family College, Philadelphia and "Those Left Behind" a graduate course for teachers addressing the needs of children of incarcerated parents at Gratz College in Philadelphia.
 

This one-hour audio-conference is hosted by Family and Corrections Network, publisher of the Children of Prisoners Library.

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