Children's Justice Alliance
Prioritizing, Parenting and Protecting Our Children
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Success Story: Sarah
Sarah is serving her second term in prison. She has two children, both of whom have been raised by her mother. Sarah is due for release in the next six months. In a recent parent panel Sarah shared her experience with the Parenting Inside Out program.
“PIO helped me rebuild my family relationships, not just relationships with my children. I hated my mother, who is my children’s caregiver. She has taken care of my children since they were born and I was never really their mother. She wouldn’t bring my kids to see me. PIO gave me the skills to communicate with her and also the understanding of how to be a parent. Now my mom is my best friend and she brings my kids to see me all the time. My son is in the Early Head Start program. I spend two mornings a week in his class. I write to his teacher about his education and how he is doing. I never would have known how to do that before I took PIO. I didn’t know how to be my children’s champion and advocate.
I had no confidence in myself. In PIO I accomplished something each week. Those little successes gave me the confidence to keep going; I was willing to try something bigger. Now I am part of my children’s lives. I am their mom. When I go home my mom will still be important to my children, but she will be able to be their grandmother, not their substitute mom. They will have both of us.”