Issues in Criminal Justice (JF)
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 On Trinity Broadcasting Network's Praise the Lord Father's Day broadcast, Prison Fellowship Vice President Pat Nolan discusses the problems faced by families when fathers are incarcerated. Such families face a unique challenge, as prison systems throw unnecessary roadblocks between fathers and their loved ones.
Visitation is made difficult by many prisons' isolated location. After a family travels several hours to reach a federal prison, they may discover inadequate visiting rooms, lacking space for children to play while spouses discuss the logistics of running a broken family. Even these essential personal visits are subject to last-minute cancellation.
Long-distance communication is especially difficult. Phone calls are expensive—many prisons charge $2.50 to make a connection and then at least another $1 for every minute after that.
In our society, children desperately need the loving involvement of fathers. Too often, however, the prison system places extra burdens on marriage, and children suffer for crimes they didn't commit.
Nolan spoke candidly about his own prison experience. A couple from a local church reached out to his family one Christmas through Prison Fellowship's Angel Tree program—and it made all the difference to his children. He had no way to provide gifts for them at Christmas. He filled out a Prison Fellowship application, and the loving couple from a local church brought gifts to the Nolan home. They presented Nolan's children with a nice article of clothing and a toy, and told them "These presents are from your father, and from your Heavenly Father." Nolan told Phipps, "That stuck with my children; it sticks with me today."
 Nolan remembers that couple as "The arms of the body of Christ, reaching out in love, keeping the bonds of our family together." He went on to emphasize the importance of the church family in supporting broken families.
So how exactly should the church be involved? Practicality is the key, according to Nolan. In his book, When Prisoners Return, Nolan writes that volunteers can help them navigate the DMV bureaucracy to get a license. Or give them a bus card. Maybe even become a mentor to an ex-offender, providing encouragement, guidance, and accountability. They can involve prisoners' families in their own lives by inviting them to church and by welcoming them to Bible studies or a meal in their homes.
Most importantly, the church can water the seeds of healthy parent-child relationships. Incarceration doesn't change a father's status as a father, said Nolan. "They're still a parent. The strongest bond in the world is that parental bond. And we need to strengthen that, reaffirm them as the father."
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