Being a father is hard work. Today’s dads have to be part counselor, part confidant, part disciplinarian, part encourager, part teacher, and part advocate. A good dad has to be aware of all the things happening in his kids’ lives, and be available when those kids have questions, concerns, or fears.
Now, imagine trying to do all those things from prison.
The National Fatherhood Initiative’s InsideOut Dads program seeks to provide fathers behind bars with the tools and encouragement to be good parents to their kids while serving their sentences, and helps prepare them for a time when they can be dads more directly upon their release.
“The goal is to get everybody to communicate with their kids, to relearn some parenting skills you never knew you had,” says Dennis Fries, a facilitator of the InsideOut Dads program at the Richmond (VA) City Jail.
The National Fatherhood Initiative was founded in 1994 to address “the most consequential social problem of our time: widespread father absence in the lives of our nation’s children.” With the growing number of fathers who are separated from their children due to incarceration, programs like InsideOut Dads can play a key role in reversing that problem and the societal issues that are exacerbated by the absence of an adult male role model in families.
“Being there for my kids is better than any gift,” says William Jones, a father of four who is preparing for release. Jones plans to enter an addiction treatment program after leaving prison to make sure that gift continues once he leaves the prison walls.
To learn more about InsideOut Dads, click here, or visit the National Fatherhood Initiative website.