UPDATE: Listen to the recorded program here.

Hour Friend In Deed, a program that connects mentors with children who have an incarcerated parent, is on the verge of losing its financial support.

For the past five years, the program has helped children with a parent (or both parents) in prison develop positive behavior and personal identities by pairing them with mentors. While these meaningful relationships helped the kids navigate through tough times and gave them some of the social skills and confidence, the program’s funding is a victim of the punishing economic downturn. Mentoring Children of Prisoners, a program run by the Federal Administration for Children and Families, will pull its support on September 29, 2011.

Join us live on Family Life Behind Bars Radio as we speak to 15-year-old Jeremy Hosey and his mentor of the past year Ted Sangalis about how the program has benefited both of them. We’ll also speak to Jeremy’s mother, 37-year-old Joedy Aliseo about how this mentoring relationship brought stability into her and her son’s life. We’ll ask 28-year-old Ted how he found the time to mentor while studying law at Fordham University.

Kellie Phelan, the program coordinator, will also join us to discuss the next step for the program as its funding runs dry.

Join us and share your experiences as a mentee or mentor.

• Show Date: August 4

• Time: 7:00-7:30 p.m. ET
  

• To listen Live: call (626) 414-3521

• Skype in: Click on Skype symbol next to the phone number on the show page.

• To ask a question, press #1 on your dial

• Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.

The director of Women Behind Bars, Amina Benalioulhaj, prepares the camera for a shoot in an Oklahoma prison. To her is an incarcerated mother and her visiting children. (Photo Credit: Sarah Warmker)

UPDATE: Listen to a recording of the show by clicking on the embedded player below:

Oklahoma’s crime rate ranks 17th nationally, about on par with the country’s average. But the state has the dubious distinction of being No. 1 for female incarceration per capita in the United States.

It’s not that Oklahoma’s women are hardened criminals. Rather, nearly 70 percent are non-violent offenders. They’ve found themselves behind bars at Oklahoma’s Correctional Facilities mostly because of drug abuse, drug dealing and prostitution (to support their habits).

A new documentary, Women Behind Bars, takes viewers inside these prisons to meet the women who are struggling with untreated addictions and other ignored issues. And there really are so many of them. The female incarceration rate in Oklahoma stands at 134 per 100,000, which is more than twice the national average of 60 per 100,000. Many of the women we meet are the heads of single parent led households, struggling to keep their houses in order despite being behind bars.

Join in LIVE as Family Life Behind Bars Radio interviews the documentary’s director, Amina Benalioulhaj, on June 29 @ 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

• Show Date: Wednesday, June 29

• Time: 1:30-2:00 p.m. ET
  

• To listen Live: call (626) 414-3521

• Skype in: Click on Skype symbol next to the phone number on the show page.

• To ask a question, press #1 on your dial

• Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.

The Associated Press (used with permission)

Family Life Behind Bars Radio spoke with Greg Cohen of Cause Effective, a group that advices non-profits on fundraising and fiscal planning. The discussion focused on helping small organizations that provide services to people with a loved one in prison.

Cohen agreed that groups that deal with criminal justice issues or help families with a loved one in prison have never been high priority for most foundations or government programs. The prospects of finding support and funding during these tough economic times is “pretty much near the bottom” for such organizations. Still he had many invaluable tips on surviving the economic downturn and its impact on nonprofits and groups that provide social services.

Here’s a list of just a few of the tips Cohen provided on keeping your nonprofits or one-person organizations and their programs healthy. Listen to the embedded audio segment for more details.

• Don’t start off fundraising, “friend-raise” instead: Showcase your organization and its work to people who might take interest and at some point begin to support it.

• Careful taking government funding: There are so many bureaucratic requirements that you could find yourself spending more time writing reports than running your programs.

• Find an “official” supporter: If you are considering seeking government funding, find a city council member or local official who is supportive of your cause to guide you through the funding maze and lobby on your behalf.

For more details  on these and other tips, listen to the embed below:

The Associated Press (used with permission)

UPDATE: The show will be co-hosted by Cee Flowers, the founder of The Prison Wives Movement.

Nonprofits have it tough during these lean economic times. The average non-profit has seen its funding cut by 10 to 25 percent over the past few years.

And those providing services that are perceived as less critical are hit even harder.

Sadly, that means your nonprofit–whether it helps kids visit their parent in prison or helps people reenter society after incarceration–will be affected.

It’s likely to get worse.

Deeper state and federal budget cuts are imminent. And even foundations that support nonprofits saw their own portfolios shrink during the economic crisis. They are now realigning their funding plans based on diminished resources.

But there’s no point in just trying to wait it out. It’s time to strategize a plan to keep your programs strong and providing the support and services people deserve.

To help with that Greg Cohen from Cause Effective, a group that advices non-profits on fundraising and fiscal planning, will be guest on Family Life Behind Bars Radio next Thursday, June 2 at 1:30 p.m. ET.

He’ll be on hand to discuss:
• How nonprofits can try to get more done with less money;
• Or in the worst case scenario, how they can maintain programs despite the cuts;
• How nonprofits have dealt with similar deep cuts in the past;
• Alternate or untapped forms of funding.

Greg will also take your questions live on the show.

You won’t want to miss the valuable advice provided by Cause Effective’s senior associate.

In the spirit of collaboration, tell others you know who might find this segment useful by using one of the share functions above.

• Show Date: Thursday, June 2

• Time: 1:30-2:00 p.m. ET
  

• To listen Live: call (626) 414-3521

• Skype in: Click on Skype symbol next to the phone number on the show page.

• To ask a question, press #1 on your dial

• Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.

The question comes in response to a recent post about struggling to care for a loved one in prison who is very ill.

Does anyone have advice for Elizabeth, whose husband is dying of cancer in a prison in Jacksonville, Florida? Please listen to the audio and post your comments below. I will call her and pass on all your advice. Thank you! [UPDATE: Our community columnist, Makeba Lavan, provides advice about dealing with a relative who is sick in prison in her video piece.]

(The caller’s personal identity and phone number were edited out of the message. Leave advice in the comments section and I will make sure they receive it–thanks!)

Link to mp3 (Right-click to download)

Illustrative purposes only. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Last night, I hosted a dynamic show about the high cost of collect calls from prison and the burden they impose on families.  Sherry Murray and Edna Ford not only talked about the affect that the high cost has had on them personally, but the affect it’s had on their pockets.  Kiana Booker, Ford’s granddaughter, also joined us to talk openly and candidly about the complicated task of sustaining a relationship with the father who murdered her mother.

You can also see how much money people spent receiving these collect calls and what they sacrificed in the results of our survey here.

On Wed. Jan 27 at 9 p.m. EST, I’ll be hosting Family Life Behind Bars radio, talking to Ford about the burden of collect calls and the complicated task of sustaining a relationship between her granddaughters and their father.  Ford will also talk about the difficulty of coming to terms with her son’s conviction for killing the mother of her granddaughters and the ripple effect it had on their entire family.

I’ll also be joined by Sherry Murray, president of the Coalition to Reduce Recidivism, which aims to help ex-offenders become productive members of the community.  As the mother of a son who was formerly incarcerated, Murray has also been directly affected by the high cost of collect phone calls from correctional facilities.

Listen live by calling (347) 326-9981 at showtime or listen in online at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/familylifebehindbars.  You can also ask questions or speak your mind during the show by dialing (347) 326-9981 and pressing 1.

If you’ve been affected by the high costs of collect calls, take this survey.  Also, tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Unemployed Deanna Rice, who was released after five years in a federal prison, holds up sign looking for work in construction during a workers rally outside of a construction zone in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Interested in hearing how to tackle the job market fresh out of prison?  Check out the show to hear tips and advice on finding work after incarceration from David Koch, who was released from prison in 1980 and went on to become a pilot and CEO of his own internet company.  Hear also from Aric Coleman, who was just released from prison last month, about his experience finding a job and his advice for others in the same position.

[UPDATE: article today: Out of prison, out of a job, out of luck--check out the comment section, some people have no belief in rehabilitation.]

If you’re not sure which box to check when asked “have you ever been convicted of a felony?” be sure to tune in on Wed. Nov. 11 at 9 p.m. EST.

Makeba and I will be talking to David Koch who will offer advice to recently released or formerly incarcerated people on ways to find jobs.

Following his release in 1980 after serving two years in state and federal prison, Koch took a job cleaning planes and mowing the lawn.  Little did he know that the man who gave him the job was the president and CEO of a airline company.  After working his way up from cleaner to pilot, Koch went on to have a successful career.

Koch will talk about his experience navigating the job search and offer advice ranging from how to deal with the job application to handling the societal stigmas of incarceration.

We’ll also be talking to Aric Coleman and his wife Laianda.  Aric, a Detroit native who was just released in October after serving nine years in prison, will talk about his experience trying to find employment and some of the struggles he’s had in securing a position.  Laianda, Aric’s wife of almost 13 years, will discuss the effect that his job search had on her and why she has continued to support him.

Listen live by calling (347) 326-9981 at showtime or listen live online at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/familylifebehindbars.

If you have a question about finding employment following a felony conviction that you would like to be addressed during the show, please leave a comment below and we’ll be sure to ask it during the show.

Leon Hymes

While serving his fifth year of a nine-to-life sentence for murder, Leon Hymes was transferred from Division For Youth to the Department of Corrections.

The move from one location to another was a cold dose of reality of growing up from childhood to adulthood within the criminal justice system. It also marked the beginning of a six and a half year stretch in which Hymes wouldn’t see his mother. The time apart from his family—seventeen years behind bars–shaped how he connected to his family and forged his relationship to the world.

In December 1990, 15-year-old Hymes was arrested for shooting and killing a man at a party at his girlfriend’s house in the Bronx. He was convicted and sentenced in 1992 having already spent almost two years in Spofford Detention Center in the Bronx. But as an older juvenile inmate Hymes enrolled in a mentorship program to help younger inmates.

Though not a model prisoner–he was denied parole four times–he says that trying to provide younger inmates with the guidance that he didn’t get gave him purpose and kept him going.

Now home for almost two years he’s reconciled family relationships and helps run Choices, an alternative-to-detention program for at-risk youth. When the U.S. Department of Justice released a scathing report last summer exposing horrid conditions inside NY’s youth detention facilities, from excessive restraining measures to overmedication and misdiagnoses, Hymes could relate.

I spoke with Leon about his own experiences in the juvenile justice system and the issues that today’s kids face:

Link to mp3

Link to mp3

Link to mp3

Link to mp3

Link to mp3

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: How have you tried to help an adolescent family member adjust to live outside of a juvenile detention center?

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

Michael Cohen is a student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, graduating in December 2010. ]]> http://prison.livesinfocus.org/2009/11/02/growing-up-in-the-criminal-justice-system/feed/ 2