San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership Blog

An Update from Project WHAT! Featuring Peer Mentor Eunique James and Youth Advocate Patricia Martinez

(from Project What!'s blog)

We’re excited to welcome 13 new youth to the Project WHAT! family, for a total of 24 members. We recently introduced a new program structure, which will allow us to serve more youth and promote two seasoned youth to increased leadership roles. Two youth can apply to be a Peer Mentor. Peer Mentors learn the ins and outs of what it takes to make Project WHAT! run smoothly. Here’s what Eunique James has to say about being a Peer Mentor.

Eunique James,
Project WHAT! Peer Mentor
Fremont Federation High School, 17 Years Old

What do you do as a Peer Mentor?

There are two Peer Mentors, me and Danielle. As Peer Mentors, we plan program meetings by creating lesson plans to teach our peers, contacting guest speakers to visit our program, facilitating meetings, and giving youth advocates the support they need to learn. Peer Mentors also get hands on experience in all the paper work that goes on behind the scene. When we work in the office, we create lesson plans, input evaluation data, help coordinate presentations, and any paper work that’s needed to run program. This month a guest facilitator from the Family Violence Law Center will teach us about healthy relationships.

What is your favorite part about being a Peer Mentor?

There are so many favorites. I love facilitating our program meetings and engaging my team in the lesson plans we create. I also like coordinating the presentations, training my youth advocates on presentations skills, and being the lead facilitator for presentations. Lastly, I’d have to say, like working in the office with director because it gives me an idea what she does. She has a big responsibility in Project WHAT!.

What does it mean to you to be a part of Project WHAT!?

Being a part of Project WHAT! is like having another family. Project WHAT! opens up opportunities by helping us improve our writing, facilitation, and public speaking skills. The program provides me with the tools I need to think critically about my situation and to help me reach my future personal and professional goals.

What is your favorite thing about Project WHAT!

There are so many favorites. I like that I get to break the silence about the challenges I faced when my dad was incarcerated. I also like that I get to learn about the criminal justice system, statistics about incarceration, and how it impacts society.

I really enjoy everything we do as a team. I love presenting as a team, sharing my life experiences about my dad’s incarceration, and teaching people something they’ve never thought about.

How has Project WHAT! changed your life?

Project WHAT changed my life by allowing me to be a part of a positive and productive program that I’m proud of. I love everything we learn, and it gives me a sense of what I want to major in when I go to college. Project WHAT! has given me hope that I can make a difference in creating a better society.

What are your plans after high school?

After high school, I’ll attend a four year college, do internships in different fields to explore career options, and study abroad to experience other cultures. After college I plan to get a PhD and travel the world.

What do you want to be and why?

That’s a hard question. I have so many interests. I’d like to get into the entertainment business, such as art, music and production, theater and dram, film and production. I’m also interested in computer graphics, physiology, sociology and criminal justice. I guess you can say I’m undecided, but I have a feeling I’ll do something in one of those fields.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

In my spare time I like to study, workout, read, and watch documentaries. I also like to hang out with friends, play sports, and spend time with my family. I always try to keep myself productive in a positive way. I love trying new things and being the unique person I am.

Patricia Martinez
Project WHAT! Youth Advocate
Holly Names High School, 14 Years Old

I traveled to Solano County on October 6^th to accept a check with the Children Network of Solano County. To my surprise, this ceremony was not your typical check ceremony. The check was being presented to us from inmates at California Solano County Prison.

When we first reached the prison, I felt my lungs close up and I couldn’t breathe. I saw wired gates and faint blue uniforms in the distance moving, which I came to conclude was a game of basketball in the courtyard. When we entered the prison’s visiting room, I was greeted to a colorful room filled with historic sites of great California. I was very surprised it was so friendly and family based. They had beautiful detailed pictures of Yosemite, the Santa Cruz Beach Board Walk, and even, San Francisco’s PIER 39. 

After taking in the “scenic views”, 20 inmates entered the visiting room. They were part of POP, which stands for Prison Outreach Program. The group of men dedicates their time and money to keep at risk youth out of prison and jail. They do this by raising money through food sales and donating it to programs such as Project WHAT! 

I had the opportunity to go inside the prison to talk about the work I do with Project WHAT! and to share my personal story about my dad’s incarceration. I was surprised to receive so much support and curiosity from the inmates. They asked me questions like, “What do you like about the program?” I’m mentioned that Project WHAT! is like a second family and they followed-up by asking, “How does it have a family aspect?” I explained to them that Project WHAT! doesn’t feel like a job. It’s more like a support system, which makes it feel like a family.

My favorite part, was when the one who appeared to be the “macho-est, toughest, buffest guy,” had the softest heart and said to me, “Your story really touched me. I’m not going to lie, you almost made me cry. I have a daughter your age, and I never really understood how she felt, but I think I do now.” This reminded me, that all these “criminals,” whether they committed a serious crime or just got caught up with the wrong people, they have feelings.

As we left the prison, there was such a different vibe. I realized they too were people. I didn’t understand why I was so scared and intimidated.

I feel great about Project WHAT! expanding to Solano County. To have another program like ours is nothing but positive! It makes sense to help youth be advocates in their own communities. In the future, youth from Solano County will be able to do presentations for Solano County.  It’ll be easier to raise awareness about children with incarcerated parents since our program can only do so much at one time. The more Project WHAT!’s, the better. We can only move forward from here!

Sincerely,

Patricia Martinez, Project WHAT! Youth Advocate

The InsideOut Dad™ Guide to Family Ties - helping dads create and maintain connections with their family

 

The following is an announcement from Christopher A. Brown, Executive Vice President, National Fatherhood Initiative:

 

I am pleased to announce the release of an innovative product for incarcerated fathers called The InsideOut Dad™ Guide to Family Ties.  The focus of the guide is on helping dads create and maintain connections with their family which research has shown to be one of the most critical factors in reducing the risk of recidivism.  NFI created this product with input from practitioners-corrections staff and volunteers who deliver NFI and other programs to incarcerated dads.  

 

This self-paced resource is ideal for incarcerated and re-entering fathers housed in short-stay facilities (such as county jails and half-way houses) that don't lend themselves to running a lengthier group-basedprogram.  It can also be used in longer-stay facilities that don't offer a group-based fatherhood program or with fathers as they wait to get into a program.  Use it as a stand-alone resource or as a compliment to NFI's group-based, evidence-based InsideOut Dad™ program.  Please visit http://www.fatherhood.org/iod-guide for more information on the guide (including a sample of its content) and to order it.

Call for Stories from Children of Incarcerated Parents

from Denise Johnston and Megan Sullivan

Are you an adult who experienced the incarceration of a parent as a child? Are you interested in sharing your story, in your own words, with others?

We are editing a book of life stories by adults who had a parent in jail and/or prison when they were growing up.   The book will describe adult perspectives on parental incarceration.  This will not be a book ABOUT children of incarcerated parents, it will be a book BY adults who experienced the incarceration of a parent as children.

There is no requirement that you have ever lived with your incarcerated parent.

There is no requirement that you have had an active relationship with your parent who has been in jail or prison.  

We are also interested in those who are the second generation of incarcerated people.

We will provide you with editorial assistance to help you write the story you want to tell.  You can send us your written work electronically or by mail.  

If you are interested in sharing your story and participating in this important project, please email or write to us at:

cipstories@gmail.com

OR

Denise Johnston                      
Box 41-286                         
Eagle Rock, California 90041               

HOW A FATHER’S PICTURES AND STORY OF FAMILY LIFE SAVED HIM FROM DOING FIVE YEARS IN PRISON

Photos Of Freedom

The following article was published at the Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project Blog: http://acjusticeproject.com/8-featured-cases/photos-of-freedom/

CARNELL

Carnell was facing charges of possession for sale.  Allegedly, he sold drugs worth $20 to an undercover officer.  While he admits doing so, what he was unwilling to accept was an extremely harsh five year prison sentence.  When he came to De-Bug, he was unhappy with his public defender who he felt was pushing him to take a deal of 5 years. At the time of the incident, Carnell had been the sole provider for his children, the sole caretaker of his disabled mother, and had been on a steady path of rehabilitating his life since he was released from prison in 2000.  He admits to having a recent stumble with drugs, all the while being able to meet his responsibilities as a father and as a son, and was focusing back on his recovery.  His children’s mother had not consistently been in his or the children’s lives for years.  If Carnell were to be sent to prison, it would mean his children being sent to the foster care system and his mother possibly being conserved, left with no one to care for them.

Carnell really wanted the judge to know how much prison was going to be devastating for his children.  “I can handle the environment itself,” he says, “but I don’t want my kids to have to go through it.”  To actively work on his case, Carnell and members of De-Bug’s ACJP supported him by developing a mitigation package that would help inform the court of the factors they should consider when deciding his sentence.  While he had already pled, there was still discretion by the judge as to the eventual sentence. Even before his sentence, without any prodding from his attorney or anyone, Carnell himself enrolled in AA classes, joined parenting and anger management classes, found a steady job after months of looking.

The main point of the mitigation package was to give the court a full picture of who Carnell was.  He and his supporters wanted to show that while he did take responsibility for the incident, he belonged in the community, not in prison.

His mitigation package included:

• Letters of support from his mother, father, stepmother, community organizations and leaders, his pastor, and his children’s school psychologists who testified to how vital Carnell was to his kids’ lives;
• Certificates of completion and progress in his drug rehabilitation classes/ anger management/ parenting classes;
• High school completion certificate;
• Paycheck stubs showing consistency of holding down a job;
• Transcripts of his children’s participation and attendance at school that show how under Carnell’s care, the kids did well (getting straight A’s, student of the month, participated in afterschool programs, etc)
• A photo journal showing how Carnell takes care of his children from waking them, feeding them breakfast, taking them to school, taking them to afterschool programs, doing homework with them, spending time with them, and putting them to bed.

OUTCOME:  What started out as an originally thin packet grew into a binder that he then presented to his probation officer that would create the report for the judge to determine his final sentence.  This packet, along with well-thought out and prepared essays answering questions posed to him by the Probation Department, resulted in a recommended sentence of 2 months county jail time, an inpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, and a 5 year suspended sentence.  This was then later modified to 3 months in county jail, and an outpatient drug and alcohol program that allowed him to go back home and care for his family. His pro-active steps took a five year prison sentence and  turned it into a short term outpatient program. Carnell innovative use of photos when compiling a mitigation packet has become a useful model for ACJP. Carnell now advises others on how to construct mitigation packets.

Teaching Haniyah

 By Jody Sokolower

(originally printed in Rethinking Schools: 

http://rethinkingschools.org/index.shtml)

The following article exploring the impact of incarceration of family members and encounters with law enforcement on students includes a section Project WHAT! and Mailee Wang.

Illustration: Thea Gahr

Several years ago, I taught a unit on power in my 9th-grade social studies classes at Berkeley High School in California’s Bay Area. It’s a diverse school—rich folks from the hills, middle- and working-class from the flats; about one-third each of African American and white students; the other third a combination of Latina/o, multi-ethnic, South Asian, and others.

For our initial activity, I asked students to interview someone—a relative, neighbor, or themselves—about an encounter with the police. I emphasized that it could be any kind of contact, positive or negative. The questions were basic: Where were you and what were you doing when the encounter began? What did the police do and say? What was the result? How did it make you feel?

The next day, I had the students tell their stories in small groups. Then we rotated the groups so each student ended up hearing everyone else’s story. After we returned our desks to a large circle, I asked the students: What did you hear? What does it make you think?

The results were stark. As Valerie, a Filipina student, said: “At least in terms of the cops, there are two realities happening in the same city, one for white kids, one for everyone else.” To be sure, some white students told stories of being hassled for skateboarding or followed in stores, but there were also stories of lost children reunited with their families and of petting police horses in the park. Among the African American, Latina/o, and Muslim students, the stories piled up of being stopped while walking down the street, thrown against walls, and frisked; immigration agents breaking into apartments; visits to older brothers and other relatives in prison. I was stunned by how sharp the differences were. I was also surprised by the level of openness in the room. The students with painful stories were eager to share them, and the other students were interested and supportive.

One student wrote in a reflection on the activity: “My brother is in jail, and it makes everyone in my family upset. But I never talk about it at school or with my friends. That makes it even worse.” Like Haniyah, many of my students of color were describing the impact of the criminal justice system on their families and communities. They were also describing their own fears and vulnerability to getting trapped in the school-to-prison pipeline, and their need to have school be a place to share, analyze, and put their experience in a broader context.

As Haniyah so clearly describes, having a parent or loved one caught up in the criminal justice system is an ongoing crisis that affects every aspect of family life. In many communities, we are in essence teaching in war zones. In California, for example, as you travel through the Central Valley, virtually every freeway exit accesses an institution where people are locked up. Some of us have spent way too much time in or visiting prisons; others have no idea that we are surrounded by people who are incarcerated. Nationally, more than 7 million children have a parent caught up in the criminal justice system.

As teachers we need to understand what is happening so we can provide support. One source of information is programs like the one that Haniyah participated in. Project WHAT! provides leadership development and paid jobs to youth with incarcerated family members. The young people connect their own experiences to the skills and information they need to lead workshops for teachers, social workers, probation and parole officers. They hope to raise awareness and improve services and policies that affect children with incarcerated parents.

“It’s enormously helpful if teachers look for context, if they realize that a child might be acting out because of something big that happened at home,” according to former director of Project WHAT! Anna Wong. “Maybe they witnessed someone in their family getting arrested. Maybe they went to visit a sibling in jail and were denied a visit. You never know if you don’t ask.”

Mailee Wang is the current program and policy director. Both of her parents were arrested and incarcerated when she was a teenager. “In my case, it was in the newspapers, so everyone knew, but no one talked to me about it. I felt like an outcast. The teachers were judging me, but no one acknowledged that I was going through really tough times.” She ended up being expelled from school. But, Wang says, supportive teachers and other adults can make an enormous difference. Participant Brynesha Williams explains:

I was at school talking to a friend in the lunchroom about how I found out my mom went back to jail. I started crying and right then a lady who was walking by noticed me and stopped. Most teachers wouldn’t stop if they saw a student crying, but she did. I didn’t know her at all. I just saw a very tall, light-skinned woman in her 40s with a kind face. “Why are you crying?” she said. I told her, “My mom’s back in jail.” She introduced herself as Ms. Boone, the health coordinator, and asked if I wanted to come talk to her. I could tell she had a good spirit, so I went and told her about the whole situation.

Ms. Boone made herself available to talk whenever Brynesha was upset, found her a girls’ group and tutoring, and eventually helped her re-establish contact with her mother inside.

‘Felon’ Is Not an Identity

The relationship to loved ones in prison is a central and vulnerable issue for many of these students. One of the most important lessons Haniyah teaches us lies in her description of her father. He emerges as a complex person—someone with enormous strengths and gifts as well as weaknesses, someone whose own initial contact with the criminal justice system happened when he was far too young and far too vulnerable.

Haniyah loves and admires her father while recognizing how his mistakes have affected her life. The same is true for many of our students whose parents are incarcerated. They need our support in recognizing the significance of their parents in their lives. The mass incarceration that is destroying the fabric of our society rests on stereotyping those in prison as worthless, as if “felon” were a fullblown character description. This puts children with incarcerated parents or siblings in a terrible psychological bind. That bind is exacerbated by the silence, even in the most affected communities, about how many people are locked up. Michelle Alexander explains:

Mass incarceration, far from reducing the stigma associated with criminality, actually creates a deep silence in communities of color, one rooted in shame. Imprisonment is considered so shameful that many people avoid talking about it, even within their own families. . . . Even in communities devastated by mass incarceration, many people struggling to cope with the stigma of imprisonment have no idea that their neighbors are struggling with the same grief, shame, and isolation. . . . Even in church, a place where many people seek solace in times of grief and sorrow, families of prisoners often keep secret the imprisonment of their children or relatives. As one woman responded when asked if she could turn to church members for support, “Church? I wouldn’t dare tell anyone at church.” (161)

What Can Teachers Do?

When my daughter was in elementary school, a friend of ours, Donna Wilmott, was in federal prison for several years, and her daughter Zoe and husband lived with us. When Zoe’s teacher, Marilyn Garcia, found out that Donna was at a prison an hour away, she applied to be on Donna’s visiting list. Then she went to the prison to have a parent/teacher conference in person. She corresponded with Donna, sending her a class photo and examples of Zoe’s work. Not everyone has the time, resources, and generosity of spirit to do all of that, but the impact on both Donna and Zoe was immeasurable.

The first step is to break the silence. Each fall I teach, I look for a way tomention that people I love have been in prison for many years, and that I visit them regularly. Other teachers will have different ways of opening up the subject, using poetry, fiction, news articles, or videos.

Wang offers some guidelines for teachers:

• Don’t judge, blame, or label the child because their family member is incarcerated.
• Don’t treat the child as though their parent’s incarceration is a reflection on them.
• Don’t project any feelings you have about incarcerated people onto the child.
• Don’t ask why their family member is incarcerated. The details aren’t important.
• Don’t assume that the child thinks poorly of their incarcerated parent.
• Treat them as you do every other student, believe in them, and let them know they are worthy of success.

The next step is to develop and teach curriculum about the criminal justice system that supports all our students in thinking critically and deeply. In the same way that there are developmentally appropriate ways to engage even young children in discussions of war, immigration, and other critical current issues, we need to create the context and support for our students to grapple with the realities of “law and order.” Mass incarceration is affecting many, many of our students, and we need to shine the light of social justice teaching and critical thinking on the issues.

The final and most important step is to fight—in our schools, neighborhoods, states, and nation—to stop the criminalization and incarceration of our students and their families.

References
Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: The New Press, 2010.
Project WHAT! Resource Guide for Teens with a Parent in Prison or Jail. Berkeley, Calif.: Communityworks, 2008.