Harriet Langburd: It’s time to create programs for incarcerated fathers

This commentary is by Harriet Langburd of Burlington. She is a rising senior studying sociology and psychology at the University of Vermont.

I intern at the Kids-A-Part program housed at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, the only women’s prison in Vermont. The program is facilitated by Lund and is contracted by the Department of Corrections. My role is facilitating video and in-person visits with children and their mothers. I have seen firsthand how important these relationships are to creating better outcomes for the children involved.

Studies have shown that children who have a parent in prison are more likely to develop various mental and physical health issues and to become incarcerated themselves. For many children, a parent going to prison can mean essential support is being forcibly taken, and it is painfully difficult to adjust to life without them. Children also often face stigma and feelings of shame around having an incarcerated parent, leading to increased isolation and difficulties in other relationships .

Kids-A-Part is dedicated to keeping moms in contact with their children. Jess Kell acts as the parenting program coordinator. She does everything from facilitating “mom’s mail,” an activity reserved for clients creating and sending cards and gifts to their children, to using her office as a space for moms to attend family court virtually. The program provides critical support that fosters a communicative relationship between mom and child. Research has shown that maintaining these relationships can reduce negative symptoms .

In my time at Kids-A-Part, I have been immensely moved by the interactions I have watched, from witnessing a mother meet her teenage daughter’s boyfriend over Zoom to seeing a mom encourage her infant son as he learned to crawl during a Saturday visit. These interactions are important in the creation of family well-being as well as destigmatizing parental incarceration and reducing shame.

Kids-A-Part remains the only program of its kind in Vermont, meaning the five other prisons in the state are not benefiting from the vital help that Kids-A-Part provides. These prisons all include fathers who lack the aid and space to have support around their relationships with their children.

While kids are not barred from visiting their fathers in prison, there have been a lack of resources that prevent the creation of family-friendly spaces in other prisons. Facilities may have some toys or books for kids, but not a space designated for parent-child interactions.

The environment of a visit can make a world of difference in how advantageous it is for kids . If we can construct a climate that is conducive to the child feeling safe, then we can make enormous strides in reducing the effects of incarceration-related trauma in children.

A mom recently expressed disappointment that her toddler did not benefit from a child-welcoming space when visiting her dad at another facility. The Kids-A-Part program has worked to create and maintain a safe and welcoming environment for children to visit their moms to create a comfortable place where healthy relationships can flourish.

Kids-A-Part has existed for more than 20 years, provided mothers with crucial resources and helped families stay together during a mother’s time in prison. I am saddened to see that in this amount of time, no other programs of its kind exist in other Vermont facilities.

I would love to see legislation prioritize a plan to implement these programs in other prisons. If there is one thing that I have learned during my time at Kids-A-Part, it is that parents can make mistakes and still be good parents.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Harriet Langburd: It’s time to create programs for incarcerated fathers .