A New Hampshire state prison center that serves families has a new program that provides counseling services to children and incarcerated parents.
Family Ties hopes to strengthen communication among families to increase emotional support and practice coping skills for the child and caregiver. Both will meet with family therapists and the incarcerated parent will participate via the internet or televisiting.
Studies show that many children are traumatized by the loss of a parent to prison.
The program is a collaborative effort by the Family Connections Center, a University of New Hampshire program and the Womankind Counseling Center.
Any father who is part of the center in state department of corrections facility can participate with their children. They plan to expand the services to women correctional facilities later this year.