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IC parishioner, Fran Butler talks to ICGS eighth grade students about his ministry in Illinois prisons as eighth grade teacher, Rita Marchinski looks o |
Illinois - On the afternoon of February 1st, eighth graders at Immaculate Conception Grade School in Elmhurst welcomed a guest speaker during their Religion class. Mr. Fran Butler, an Elmhurst resident and parishioner at IC for the past thirty years, spent an hour describing his work in prison ministry. Mr. Butler has volunteered for the past twenty years bringing hope and prayer to Illinois prison inmates.
11:00 PM, Oct. 22, 2011 |
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| Jeffrey Dorn |
Upon some inquiries from program staff it was determined that Robert's sleeping was, in fact, not a result of boredom, but because he was in a place he felt safe.
Robert, age 5, was a mentee in the Shapes Mentoring Program. Shapes provides caring adult mentors to children of inmates living in southwest Missouri. Robert was one of these children. His father was in a Missouri prison, partially due to the fact that he abused his children.
The father would come home late at night. He would typically be intoxicated and he would enter Robert's room and hit him. Robert had learned that it was not safe to sleep through the night. Even though dad was no longer in the home, Robert's sleep patterns were still affected.
Why was Robert sleeping in Tom's car? Because he felt safe with Tom. He knew that Tom was there for him, to be a friend, confidant and mentor.
Throughout the United States there are approximately 2.7 million children who have a parent in prison.
10/12/10
KEN MILLER, Associated Press Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma children whose mothers are in prison are five times more likely to end up in prison themselves, according to a report released Tuesday by a child advocacy group.
The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy's annual Kids Count Factbook said those children then often have children of their own who end up in the same situation, perpetuating the cycle.
"We know any adverse childhood experience, any sort of trauma or loss a child experiences affects them in their development," said Linda Terrell, the group's executive director.
By LAUREN SAUSSER (AP)
CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND — They were unlikely dance partners in an unlikely dance hall: a 29-year-old murderer and a 10-year-old boy doing an impromptu tango as Luther Vandross' "Dance with My Father" sounded from a boom box in a prison gym.
It was one of the lighter moments at the emotional end of a weeklong summer camp where inmate dads and their children reconnected after years apart. Seven fathers — all in prison-issued jeans and blue, short-sleeved shirts — swayed to the song with their children, some openly crying.
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