InsideOut Dad: Supporting Children of Incarcerated Fathers

By Kelly Kendall

The sound of slamming metal doors with automatic locks is deafening. It is a sound to which I will never get accustomed, no matter how many times I enter the jail to facilitate InsideOut Dad® classes. It is not only loud, it echoes through the concrete hallways like nothing I have ever heard outside of a jail. The sound is emphasized by the reality of what it means to incarcerated dads who will enter the classroom from their cell block.

Teaching incarcerated fathers about the importance of engaging with their children has been one of the most exhilarating, rewarding, and exhausting experiences in my life. It has given me a weighty epiphany that no matter our situations or life circumstances, we all have similar hopes and dreams, worries and concerns about our children. It is rarely so profound and raw as with incarcerated fathers who are not able to see, interact with, hug, provide for, or protect their children.

According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, 2.8 million children in the U.S. have a parent in prison, and many more minors have experienced a father or mother in jail. The initiative states: “Research results show that when a parent is incarcerated, the lives of their children are disrupted by separation from parents, severance from siblings, and displacement to different caregivers.”

Other statistics are dismaying. The instances of abuse, neglect, poverty, and violence all increase substantially for children whose parents are incarcerated, and a National Institute of Corrections study noted that “parental arrest and confinement lead to stress, trauma, stigmatization, and separation problems for their children.”

With these statistics in mind, InsideOut Dad has been implemented locally at Purgatory Correctional Facility, Kane County Jail, Iron County Jail, and Beaver County Correctional Facility. It is also being facilitated in more than twenty-five state Departments of Corrections facilities and countless Federal Bureau of Prison locations. The program is focused on the “basics,” including what it means to be a man and father. The key to developing good fathers is to first develop good men, which must come before focusing on fathering skills.

InsideOut Dad is the nation’s only evidence-based fatherhood program developed specifically for incarcerated fathers. It connects inmate fathers to their families, helping to improve behavior while still incarcerated and to break the cycle of recidivism by developing profathering attitudes, knowledge, and skills along with strategies to prepare fathers for release. Incarcerated fathers get the tools they need to become more involved, responsible, and committed in the lives of their children, providing increased motivation for them to get out and stay out.

Interestingly, the annual cost of incarceration per inmate is $25,000–$40,000, depending on the state. However, the cost for materials for a prison or jail to take one incarcerated father through the InsideOut Dad program is as little as $60 per father. And it is making a difference.

There are two goals with fatherhood education for incarcerated fathers: connecting them with their children and reducing recidivism. When a father engages with his children and really takes on the role of being a dad, he provides for them and protects them. He finds—and holds—a job that will put a roof over his children’s heads and food on the table. Doing this keeps him busy and makes him more likely to stay away from the type of activities that will land him back in jail. Over time, his paradigm shifts from being selfish to selfless.

There are few things in life that really matter, and those things really matter. When they are taken away, we tend to want them even more, and sometimes, we even begin to crave them. At the end of the day, one of the most important things conveyed to the incarcerated father is simply hope: hope for a brighter future and hope for the opportunity to be a dad to his children.

About the Author

Kelly Kendall is the CEO of Practice Partners, LLC. He teaches in the DSU School of Business & Communications as adjunct faculty. He is passionate about helping empower fathers to be great dads in the lives of their children, including teaching fatherhood education classes at Purgatory Correctional Facility and in the local communities. He loves to travel, bike, hike, and write. He also loves humanitarian service and spending time with his family.