NH Prison Family Connection Center leaves many fathers without help or hope!
Please Watch the WMUR Video (see below) about the NH Prison Family Connection Center which on the surface sounds like a great program.
However, what this story does not tell you is the Family Connection Center (FCC) does not offer this program to every incarcerated father. There are literally 100’s of fathers and their families who are restricted from participating! This means thousands of children in our communities are not receiving the benefits of this program either! FCC can you tell us why some children are being denied the healing and restoration needed from the trauma and loss of their parents incarceration?
The Family Connection Centers mission statement says the program is designed to “strengthen the connection between incarcerated parents and their families”. But, they are doing nothing to maintain or foster family connections for these fathers and their children whom they have restricted from participating in the program. My son has been an inmate in Concord for the past 10 months. He has two daughters. He has been denied entry into the program. He has never been given a reason why or an alternative to the program that will help to “strengthen the connection between him and his children ”.
The Family Connection Center states as a result of a parent's incarceration children often suffer from feelings of loss and a sense of being ostracized by their peers and their communities. Wouldn’t the well-being of these children be reason enough to permit all fathers to participate in the Family Connection Center programs? Or Is the FCC saying only some children deserve the benefits of this program while others do not?
Another point this article does not mention is of the 1400 incarcerated men in the Concord facility how many of them are actively enrolled in this program at any given time? And of that number, what crimes have they been convicted of? Who is the FCC permitting to participate and who are they restricting and why? I think the FCC needs to be fully transparent with the public. This would eliminate families from having a false sense of hope of getting into the program when in fact many fathers do not have a chance at all.
And lastly, what is the Family Connection Center and/or the Department Of Corrections doing to “strengthen the connection between incarcerated parents and their families” who are being restricted from this program. These children are innocent of any wrong doing and they are still hurting, still suffering and deserve some answers.
If you know of someone who is incarcerated and has been denied access to this program I would love to hear from you! You can contact me through Facebook or by contacting CCJR using the email address below.
Melody Bourgeois
CCJR Member
info@ccjrnh.org
Tuesday, April 18th: NH Prison Family Connections
Video Link: http://www.wmur.com/…/tuesday-april-18th-nh-prison-…/9276808
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