Volunteer to Help Children of Incarcerated Parents
Nonprofit Organizations Offering Family Connection Services:
Angel Tree Program
The Prison Fellowship Angel Tree works to spread hope to men and women in prison through the word of the Gospel. The Angel Tree program supports prisoners’ families by delivering Christmas gifts each year on behalf of the incarcerated parents, strengthening their bonds and making them feel like the child is receiving a personal gift from their parent.
Assisting Families of Inmates strives to provide families with opportunities to bond with and deepen their relationships with their incarcerated loved ones. AFOI recognizes the importance of family visitations within the prison complex, prioritizing building the connection between the incarcerated parent and child.
Center for Restorative Justice Works (CJRW) Get on the Bus Program (GOTB)
The program Get on the Bus creates opportunities where, with the help of volunteers, children and family members of the incarcerated can travel to visit them. These events happen throughout the year, and the organization covers all travel and expenses, encouraging more families to participate.
Children of Inmates focuses on prioritizing the growth and support of children of incarcerated parents. They accomplish this through hosting bonding visits for the children to visit their parents and having information sessions that the incarcerated parents can attend.
Foreverfamily is an Atlanta-based program that works to ensure that all children have the opportunity to be surrounded by the love of family. Foreverfamily provides services to children of incarcerated parents and their families to ensure that, no matter the circumstances, all children can be surrounded by the love of family.
The goals of the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars (GSBB) program are to lessen the impact of parental separation due to incarceration, to foster the personal and social development of girls and their mothers, and to provide girls with the opportunity to participate with their parents in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Parents and their daughters actively lead in planning and implementing Girl Scout program activities. They participate in facilitated discussions about family life, conflict resolution, and preventing violence and drug abuse. After release, parents and daughters can continue participating in troop meetings in their communities, making Girl Scouting a consistent presence.
Hope House has three main goals: (1) to strengthen families and, in particular, the relational bonds between children and their fathers imprisoned far from home; (2) to reduce the isolation, stigma, shame, and risk these families experience when fathers and husbands are imprisoned; and (3) to raise public awareness about this most at-risk population.
KidsMates Inc. is a national nonprofit organization co-founded by children of incarcerated parents. KidsMates Inc.’s advocacy raises awareness about the silent American epidemic of parental incarceration and its lifelong negative impacts on affected children. The organization implements initiatives to improve outcomes, foster resilience, and empower children of incarcerated parents.
The Messages Project focuses on the children left behind when a parent is incarcerated in prisons in Virginia, Nebraska, and Missouri several times a year to create videotapes or DVDs from incarcerated parents to their children. The recordings are mailed home to children and families, often with a book read as part of the message.
Photo Patch endeavors to demystify what children of incarcerated parents face and need, as there is often a disconnect between what people suspect and reality. The application allows children and families to submit photos and letters electronically, and Photo Patch prints and mails them to the incarcerated parent for free.
PrisonMail simplifies communication and encourages constant correspondence between prisoners and their families and loved ones. It uses the convenience of the Internet to allow those with incarcerated loved ones to send messages regularly.
PVS is the only nationwide interfaith visitation program given access by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Defense to visit all federal and military prisoners. We have 300 volunteers across the U.S. who regularly visit over 90 federal and military prisons.