Family Life Behind Bars just completed its second year of publication. I hope that you have found the stories of individual lives, the columns and the tips useful in dealing with the separation you are facing from a loved one who is incarcerated.

The project was fortunate to receive technical and editorial support from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and funding from J-Lab’s New Voices grant (which is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation). Much of what you see on the site could not have been produced without this support.

The New Voices grant allowed me to purchase equipment that I use in the media training workshops for community members who have been affected by incarceration and to pay the community columnists for their work.

The grant came with a challenge, however. I must raise $5,000 from the public in order to receive the final $5,000 installment from the Knight Foundation.

So I ask you for your generous support. Your donation is tax-deductable.

I must admit that I am not a fundraiser. I am happiest publishing the stories that so many families and individuals have been kind enough to share with us on the site and working with my students who are dedicated to accurately reporting pieces that might help clarify issues around incarceration. But I must also be a fundraiser to be able to continue publishing Family Life Behind Bars.

I know times are tough for everyone because of the free falling economy. But if you have found this site useful and relevant, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. No amount is too small!

Donating is easy and takes just a few minutes. Please click on the “Donation” right now. You do not need a Paypal account to make a donation.

Thank you for your support.

Sandeep Junnarkar
Founder & Editorial Director
Family Life Behind Bars

Alison Coleman, now 58, struggled to support her two children while her husband, Jay, served a 25-years to life sentence in a New York state prison for robbery—-the minimum
for anyone arrested a third time in New York under the Rockefeller Laws.

She grappled with social and emotional isolation, with illness and financial hardship, and she faced the tensions at home that are common between parents and teenagers…but she did so single handedly.

In this segment, Alison describes how she met Jay, how she reacted at his sentencing, and how she struggled to raise their special needs child during his incarceration:

Related:

Jay Coleman Part I: A long journey from petty criminal to husband and father. Part II: Parenting by phone. Part III: Watching your children grow up from behind prison bars”>video interviews.

In this video column, Davian Reynolds, our 16-year-old video columnist from Brooklyn, reflects on why Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 presidential election means so much for kids like him who have or have had or might wind up having a parent who is incarcerated. (more…)

Makeba Lavan, the first columnist for Family Life Behind Bars, and I appeared on a television Talk Show on Wednesday to discuss this project and the larger issues of incarceration.

The show, Brian Lehrer Live, is a cutting-edge program that focuses its lens on conversations on the Web and  beyond:

The show examines the affect that internet has had on our daily lives, from candidates fund-raising online to community groups e-organizing, and we want you to come participate in carving out a niche in how the web affects the news.

Brian also has a fantastic radio show on WNYC (93.9 FM, 820 AM and at WNYC.org) called the Brian Lehrer Show. I know that WNYC has a great lineup of radio shows, but I would continue to support them even if the Brian Lehrer show was the ONLY show on that station.

Take a look at the segment Makeba and I were on:

Click to view video

The scary thing is that Mr. Jones’s experience is hardly unique but rather is the norm.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: How well do you think the public defender who represented your family member did on the case?

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

November 4, 2008–Casimiro Torres, 41, joined millions of Americans today to vote in the general election.  Like many during this historic election, he is voting for the first time.  But unlike most new voters, Mr. Torres is formerly incarcerated.
(more…)

Solitude (click image to enlarge)

REMINDER: DEADLINE TO ENTER IS DEC. 1, 2008

People who have an incarcerated family member naturally cycle through a range of difficult emotions as the years slowly pass. Some express their sadness, anxiety and fear or hope for the future through art, music or poetry.

To honor that great artwork, Family Life behind Bars is launching its inaugural Annual Arts Celebration & Competition.You are invited to enter the artwork you have produced that reflects the emotions you are feeling during your loved one’s incarceration. (more…)

If you are a child of someone 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.

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

Click on the player above or download this video here. (iPhone version)

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: How has your parent’s incarceration affected your interest in staying in school?

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

click for slideshow

You wouldn’t think Felix Castro cries at all by looking at him. He bounces and struts when he walks. His chest is broad, his knuckles massive. His hair is shaved close and two tattooed tears mark his right cheekbone. But in a plaza outside of his work near Washington Square, his eyes welled up as he recounted the students’ stories he heard when he visited Lillian Rashkis High School in Brooklyn as a youth counselor.

Castro is the founder and facilitator of ChangeNThoughts, a violence and gang prevention program in its infancy stage. He looks far younger than his age of 37 would suggest. Castro gets intense and emotional when he discusses his work. “You want to try the judicial. Did you try the rebuilding?” Castro said, before adding, as he does frequently, “What the students really need is love.” (more…)

The Contra Costa Times, a local newspaper outside San Francisco, has an interested piece that looks at the strengths and minuses of addiction treatment programs versus prison or jail terms. The piece profiles 32-year-old John Delino who went in and out of jail and treatment programs until he pulled himself together. But that program is running out of funding and not everyone is sold on its merits. (more…)