reading with dad vhc 2015
TRANSCRIPT
READING WITH DAD: SERVING INCARCERATED PARENTS AND FAMILIES
Nicole Lee Martin and Katie Cooley Holahan
DID YOU KNOW? The United States has the largest prison population in the world. 1
About half of U.S. prisoners are parents of children under 18, nearly 3 million children. 1
More than 1/3 of children were expected to reach the age of 18 while their parents were still incarcerated. 1
Between 1991 and 2007, the number of children with mothers in prison more than doubled, up 131% while the number of fathers in prison grew by 77%. 1
African-American children are 9 times and Latino children are 3 times more likely than white children to have a parent in prison. 2
WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS?
Parental incarceration creates additional challenges for children and families often resulting in:
• Financial instability and material hardship 3
• Instability in family relationships and structure 3
• Residential mobility 3
• School behavior and performance problems 3
• Shame, social and institutional stigma 3
• Emotional trauma 4
• Strained and often difficult relationship with incarcerated parent 4
THE LITERACY LINK
FAMILY LITERACY ON THE INSIDE
A simple way to repair some of this damage, especially in young kids, is for these fathers to take an active role in their child’s literacy skills development. 5
READING WITH DAD: APRIL 2014-PRESENT $2000 provided by The Stocker Foundation for recording materials, new books, educational toys and manipulatives, and shipping costs.
It took over 1 year to gain approval to begin the program and complete training.
Working with a prison educator, 4 classes of inmates were selected to pilot the program at Grafton Reintegration Center.
Classes include beginning readers, pre-GED and GED students as well as inmate volunteer narrators.
Program was made to fit into existing class schedule and divided into three sessions.
Family reading rooms were cleaned, organized and books were labeled by reading level.
READING WITH DAD SESSIONSSession #1: Every Child Ready to Read Session #2: Book Sharing
SESSION #3: READING AND RECORDING
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT Although children’s books have addressed many other sensitive issues, including adoption, disabilities, divorce, and the death of a parent, relatively few books have been written addressing parental incarceration. 6
Family reading rooms at prisons are in need of books in general due to limited budgets and staff time.
Many parents, incarcerated or not, may be struggling readers themselves.
Image from http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/visiting-day/
BOOK TITLES Visiting Day by Jacqueline Woodson (Scholastic Press, 2002).
The Night Dad Went to Jail by Melissa Higgins (Picture Window Books, 2011).
A Terrible Thing Happened by Margaret M. Holmes (Magination Press, 2000).
My Daddy is in Jail by Janet M. Bender (YouthLight Inc., 2003).
“What Will Happen to Me?” by Howard Zehr (Good Books, 2010).
Mama Loves Me From Far Away by Pat Brisson (Boyds Mills Press, 2004).
When Andy’s Father Went to Prison by Martha Whitmore Hickman Albert (Whitman & Company; Revised edition 1990).
Image from http://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Dad-Went-Jail/dp/1404866795
HELPFUL WEBSITES
• Sesame Street: Little Children, Big Challenges
http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/topicsandactivities/toolkits/incarceration#
• The Annie E. Casey Foundation
http://www.aecf.org/resources/children-with-incarcerated-parents/
• The National Resource Center for Children and Families of the Incarcerated at Families and Corrections Network
http://nrccfi.camden.rutgers.edu/
• National Center for Child Welfare Excellence
http://www.nccwe.org/index.html
• Correctional Association of New York
http://www.correctionalassociation.org/issue/families
• San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights
http://sfcipp.org/
RESOURCES 1. Murray, David; Farrington, David P.; and Sekol, Ivana. Children’s Antisocial Behavioral, Mental Health, Drug Use, and Educational Performance After Parental Incarceration: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 2012; 138 (2): 175-210.
2. Sullivan, Megan. Welcoming Children and Families Affected by Incarceration. Public Libraries. 2013; 52 (4): 41-43.
3. The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Children of Incarcerated Parents Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/resources/children-of-incarcerated-parents-fact-sheet/
4. La Vigne, Nancy G.; Davies, Elizabeth & Brazzell, Diana. Broken Bonds: Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Children with Incarcerated Parents. Urban Institute Justice Policy Center Research Report. 2008.
5. Higgins, Nicholas. Family Literacy on the Inside. Public Libraries. 2013; 52 (1): 30-35.
6. Schlafer, Rebecca J.; Scrignoli, Alyssa. Tough Topic, Necessary Reading: Finding Books for Children with Incarcerated Parents. Children & Libraries. 2015; 13 (1):24-28.
