Monday, June 21, 2010

One Year Beyond Bars

Corrections.com, a comprehensive news site dealing with prison and parole issues, has a fantastic look into Girl Scouts Beyond Bars in Idaho - which just celebrated it's one-year anniversary. The Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center and the Girl Scouts of the Silver Sage Council's Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program is an inmate mother-child visitation program. Girl Scouts Beyond Bars was started at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center on April 11, 2009 with six inmates and 10 children. Since that time the program has seen a growth in the amount of inmates who are anxious to become a part of this program. The program covers subjects such as healthy living, budgeting, making good choices, accountability, and communicating effectively. The girls are also offered the opportunity to earn Fun Patches based on turning in homework assignments. Carly Sullivan, a Mother and inmate, sums it up nicely by saying:
“I wasn’t getting any visits from my girls prior to this program... now, my
girls are writing me and really talking to me when I call them. It has
reestablished my relationship with them and opened up lines of communication
with my whole family. It also gives me something to look forward to every month.”
Very cool stuff indeed!
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