IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CHILDREN AND THEIR FUTURES

Hello, welcome to the new site of The National Incarcerated Parents and Families Network.

My name is Charles E. Stuart, I am the President and Founder of this 501-C3,

Tax Exempt Non-Profit Organization.

Our Mission Statement:

Whether it is knowledge or resources that are necessary to aid others, an advocate is someone who is actively willing to pursue causes that will benefit people in need. This organization was originally created to support families and children with incarcerated parents. We worked as liaisons between families and the incarcerated parent, worked as counselors to the children and parents, both separately and together. The goal was to create a family unit that never felt broken during incarceration, rather to strengthen the bond and parenting skills in anticipation of a successful release from imprisonment as to reduce the recidivism rates. This cause will always be a main reason for everyone involved in this network. However, we have found the need to focus our efforts towards education as well, as it is a key factor in determining future incarceration rates. We need to pay more attention to an education system that is failing our kids, and as a result, the world is seeing more youth in trouble with both their frustrated parents and the law. They are winding up in the juvenile justice system, and even more severe, prison. One of the methods currently used to predict how many prisons to build in the future is to look at students’ reading and math levels as early as the 3rd grade. It is no secret that Pennsylvania schools are declining in the quality of education that is being offered. The records are made public when the scores arrive, the funding is being cut to the districts that are not meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP), and teachers are being furloughed due to these budget cuts, increasing class size and increasing the teacher to student ratios. All students are getting less individualized attention, students with individualized education plans (IEPs) are receiving fewer services to meet their needs and many parents are not aware of what FAPE really means, Free Appropriate Public Education. Appropriate is defined as, “suitable or proper”. In order to reduce the amount of juveniles finding trouble and leading themselves down the wrong path, advocates need to fight for an appropriate education for the youth and future of America. The National Incarcerated Parents and Families Network will continue to advocate for youth with an incarcerated parent, but will also branch out to advocate for youth and families that are not getting an education that will lead that youth to a life of success.

SITE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. AS WE UPDATE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME: CSTUARTCONSULT@AOL.COM

Quality Education is it for the privileged only?

It is our children's right to have the best quality public education possible. It is our right as parents to ensure that our children get the best quality education possible. This is our duty as responsible parents.

The correlation between education and prisons is disheartening...we have "heart" and want to offer advocacy to those in need.

© 2006 NIPFN

National Incarcerated Parents and Families Network™

Visit the following link to make a donation. Any amount is appreciated and will be put toward improving the lives of our children:

http://www.gofundme.com/109dog

NIPFN

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

www.incarceratedparents.org

Let's look at the lack of quality education and how this relates to Pennsylvania's uncontrollable increase in people being incarcerated.

Reasons we advocate:

I have always had a passion for kids. They are vibrant, impressionable and constantly require mentoring. With experienced, knowledgeable, compassionate adults in their corners, these kids can go anywhere! I started off my career path in law enforcement, dealing with adult criminals. I realized the effects of adult incarceration on the families involved. This lead me to create NIPFN and begin to advocate for those families in hopes of keeping the incarcerated parent and their children connected. The family unit became a focus for the incarcerated parent, therefore helping to reduce their chances of recidivism, for they had a reason to make a positive change when released from internment. As I continued on my career path, I decided to pursue my Master’s degree in Community Psychology and Social Change with an emphasis in Children Services and Cultural Diversity. This lead me to do some work in the mental health field. I worked with single patients and entire families in many settings, from inpatient mental hospitals, to schools, to the very living rooms where families center their lives. I learned about children with disabilities. Some had emotional disabilities, ranging from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, to reading and writing disabilities, and some of my most memorable clients had ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder. By observing and interacting with these kids within their educational setting in public schools, I realized the holes in education and how they were disturbing their lives as they extended beyond the school walls. Some of them left school feeling like failures. They had no hope of ever becoming anything, and some resorted to making it “in the streets”. This is where I feel the revolving door between schools and prisons begins. This is why I want to promote advocacy for these kids in the cause of improving the education to become appropriate to each child’s needs. I graduated in 2010 with my Master’s degree and these new experiences have encouraged me to expand NIPFN to include advocacy for all children in pursuit of a quality education. With the combination of NIPFN’s original goals and most recent goals, we are now offering a range of advocacy services to children and adults.