In this audio column, Emani Davis, the director of Project Family Connect and the daughter of an incarcerated man, talks about her father’s declining health and the threat of losing him after 24 years spent waiting for his release.

If you are someone who has a family member who is incarcerated and you have a question for me, you have three options:

1. Post a question in the comments section below,
2. Send an email to questions@livesinfocus.org,
3. Call (646) 867-1891 to leave a message.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: Should elderly and sick prisoners be released from prison to spend their remaining years with their families?

Do you have a sick relative in prison? How are you trying to help them?

[Use the comments feature below or call (646) 867-1891 to leave an audio message.]

In this video column, Emani Davis, the director of Project Family Connect and the daughter of an incarcerated man, talks about  the stigma that she experienced as the child of an incarcerated parent and her desire to address the specific needs of this group.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: How has having an incarcerated parent affected the way you see yourself?

[Use the comments feature below or call (646)-867-1891 to leave an audio message.]

Thirty-year-old Emani Davis has spoken out on behalf of young people whose parents have been incarcerated since she was 14 years old. Her own father has been imprisoned for more than a decade.

Earlier this year, she was named the director of Project Family Connect for New York’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). Her focus is to make judges and attorneys more aware of how having a parent in jail impacts children and young adults. And, after years of struggle, she says that some in the court system are finally starting to listen.

In her monthly audio column, Davis will share her thoughts and experiences, and answers questions that you may have about how incarceration is affecting your own families.

If you have a question for Emani, you have three options:

1) Post a question in the comments section below,

2) Send an email to questions@livesinfocus.org,

3) Call (646) 867-1891 to leave a message.

Emani also welcomes questions from others who might simply be interested in knowing more about how the life of families is affected when a parent is incarcerated.

click for slideshow

Over the course of several perfectly sunny Saturday afternoons, I gathered a group of teenagers and young adults who have in some way been affected by having an incarcerated parent. We met at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, where I planned to teach them how to use video to document how their parents’ incarceration has affected their lives. (more…)