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.]

In this video column, Davian Reynolds, a 16-year-old from Brooklyn, reflects on how children who have an incarcerated parent can face questions, scrutiny and mistrust from other students, teachers and the administration.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: How did your friends reacted when you told them you have a parent who is incarcerated? If your teachers know, how do you think they treat you differently?

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

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

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.

Lives in Focus is relaunching its monthly video column by 23-year-old Makeba Lavan, a young woman whose mother was incarcerated until late 2005.

If you are a child of someone who is incarcerated and you have a question for Makeba, 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.

Makeba also welcomes 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)

Jay Coleman, who served 25 years in prison, talks about how he felt as he watched his children grow up from behind his prison cell:

Click on the player above or download this video here.

In a previous piece, Coleman discusses how he helped raise his children by using a telephone. He also describes how he went from being a crime-loving man to a family man.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: Did you send your spouse or partner in prison pictures of your children? How did you feel experiencing your children grow through photographs alone?

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

Listen to this excellent collaboration that gives voice to 12-year-old Payton Smith during her two-year separation from her incarcerated mother. It is very powerful!