The New York Times opens the doors to prison parenting and New York’s Children Center program in Bedford Hills.
Kate Stone Lombardi writes (excerpt):
The separation and stress take their toll. Studies have shown that children of prisoners suffer from higher levels of depression, anxiety and poor academic performance than other children. They are also at higher risk of landing in prison themselves, Ms. Lord said, and that is what the program is seeking to avert.
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But Ms. Richardson, 45, said she had worked hard to turn her life around, and she disputes the notion that being in prison means she doesn’t have the right or the ability to guide her two children.
“Even behind bars, you are still a parent,” she said. “We don’t have to sit back and think we don’t have a right to say, ‘Don’t do this or that.’ We have to instruct our kids regardless of being in prison.
“I’ve learned from my mistakes. I have the information of my past. My kids don’t have a past yet. All I can do is say: ‘Look, this is how my life was and I don’t like what happened. I’m giving you this information so you can make a better choice.’ ”
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Still, no matter how well the visit goes, it always comes to an end. Younger children sometimes leave the prison in tears. “To see us lined up at the gate after the visit, that’s a picture,” Ms. Richardson said. “We’re all leaning on each other. You’re living in two worlds, and after the visit you go back to reality. You have to make the decision that everything you do in this place doesn’t just involve you.
“When I first got incarcerated, my whole family got incarcerated.”