At Your Service
At Their Service
Your sponsorship of a child today, allows Photo Patch to get the job done right away!
Many Children who have incarcerated parents have not spoken,
seen or in anyway communicated with their parents in weeks, months and sometimes years.
Every month, we ask children to upload letters and pictures that they would like to
send to their parents. Photo Patch prints, packages, ships the mail on their behalf.
Every month each child needs a
Sponsor:
We ensure:- Quality photos and letters are
printed
- Photos and letters are placed in
prison-appropriate packaging
- Envelopes have valid shipping and
return addresses
- Envelopes have sufficient amount
of postage attached
- The mail is delivered in
a timely fashion
- Children are notified that their
mail has been printed, packaged and shipped
Sponsors are people who donate $5 per month to help a child
communicate with his or her incarcerated parent(s) .
That $5 will go towards printing, packaging and delivering at least
20 photos in addition to a letter from the child to their parent.
We diminish barriers
The children
that we seek to help would like to send pictures and letters to
their parent(s) but are deterred by the tedious process of
sending snail mail.
We help them send out monthly
time lines (pictures and/or letters) to their parents.
We recognize that help is needed
These children
are already a part of Great Organizations that are
striving to defeat intergenerational incarceration.
These programs offer the
children a wealth of educational, mentoring and recreational
services so that these children stay strong, feel supported and
ready for a brighter tomorrow.
We work with the like minded
Photo Patch assists
other nonprofit organizations when and where we can.
One Big Family
One Big Support System
1 in every 28 children in the United States has an incarcerated parent.
Instead of overlooking these children, we are looking out for them.
The hardships that result from parental incarceration are often insurmountable when children face them alone.
At Photo Patch, we aim to give these children the necessary resources to succeed.
Our Mission
Photo Patch Foundation endeavors to demystify what children of incarcerated parents face and need, as there is often a disconnect between what people suspect and reality. Traumatized by the sudden separation when their incarcerated parents are taken away, children of all ages are at risk of:“low self-esteem, impaired achievement motivation, and poor peer relations. In addition, these children contend with feelings like anxiety, shame, sadness, grief, social isolation and guilt. The children will often withdraw and regress developmentally, exhibiting behaviors of young children, like bed-wetting… As the children reach adolescence, they may begin to act out in anti-social ways. Searching for attention, pre-teens and teens are at a high risk for delinquency, drug addiction, and gang involvement.” 1
What is not widely known is that these adverse effects are only exacerbated when
incarcerated parents and their children lack regular contact with each other. 2
Photo Patch understands that “preserving and strengthening family connections can
yield constructive benefits in the form of reduced recidivism, less inter-generational
criminal justice system involvement and the promotion of healthy child development.” 3
- Make communication for these children as easy as possible
- Provide the children with a reliable, understanding community
- Help these children achieve their full potential
Communication
Unless the parent has a history of violence against the child or another close family member, “the child most often benefits from maintaining contact with the parent in prison… Maintaining contact can help kids cope with anxiety, anger and fear over separation.” 4Yet communication between children and their incarcerated parents is inconvenient and often unsustainable. Phone calls from prisons are expensive and can only be placed at designated times; and prison visits are emotionally grueling, physically demanding, and often degrading experiences for families.
The U.S. Department of Justice most recently cited only 19% state parent inmates report seeing their children at least once a month (USDJ, 2008). 5 More notably, 58.5% of state parent inmates and 44.7% of federal parent inmates report having never been visited by their children (USDJ, 2008).5
Writing letters and sending photos is the last method of communication between children and their incarcerated parents. Unfortunately, U.S. postage mail is censored, time consuming and foreign to children. We endeavor to make this process easier. As many as 48.3% of state parent inmates and 36.5% of federal parent inmates report receiving letters from their children less than once a month, with 30% of state parent inmates and 16% report never having received any mail from their children.
With your help, children will have the opportunity to communicate with their parents on a consistent basis, something these children desperately need.
Writing letters and sending photos are also restricted by a myriad of rules and regulations; most importantly that they can only be sent and received by U.S. Postage. This makes it particularly difficult for minor children to get the necessary material and money to send letters frequently, if at all.
With your help, children will have the opportunity to communicate with their parents on a consistent basis, something these children desperately need.
Children of Incarcerated Parents:
Bill of Rights
1. I have the right to be kept safe and informed at the time of
my parent's arrest. 2. I have the right to be heard when decisions are made about me.
3. I have the right to be considered when decisions are made about my parent.
4. I have the right to be well cared for in my parent's absence.
5. I have the right to speak with, see and touch my parent.
6. I have the right to support as I struggle with my parent's incarceration.
7. I have the right not to be judged, blamed or labeled because of my parent's incarceration.
8. I have the right to a lifelong relationship with my parent.
The Photo Patch Foundation was created
to focus on rights 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
*This Bill of Rights was designed by
The San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership in 2005 and are being upheld by many other organizations and individuals around the nation.
Over 2.7 million children are currently torn apart from their incarcerated parent(s).
Many children don't know what to say to their incarcerated parent...
But photos say a thousand words.
Photos are frozen memories.
The Photo Patch Foundation ensures printing, packaging, and delivering of Monthly Time Lines so children can share their strides.
- Avinash Thombre, David R. Montague, Jennifer Maher and Israt Tusty Zohra (2009, March) If I Could Only Say It Myself: How to Communicate with Children of Incarcerated Parents. Journal of Correctional Education, 60 (1)
- Julie DelCour (2005, Oct 31). Children of misfortune: 7 million have jailed parents. Tulsa World. Retreived from JStor
- Merenstein, B., Tyson, B., Tilles, B., Keays, A., & Rufffolo, L.. (2011). Issues Affecting the Efficacy of Programs for Children with Incarcerated Parents. Journal of Correctional Education, 62(3), 166–174. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23282710
- MARGARET GRAHAM TEBO (2006, FEBRUARY) A PARENT IN PRISON: States Slowly Beginning to Help Inmates' Children, and Advocates Say It's Overdue Source: ABA Journal, 92(2) 12-13
- U.S. Department of Justice (2008) Bureau of Justice Statistics, Social Report;Incarcerated Parents and Their Children
Sign a child up
Sign a child upHow does it Work?
- A parent, guardian, mentor or some other adult caregiver creates an account in the Photo Patch Admin Panel.
- That caregiver then helps the child upload photos and type an optional letter in the Admin Panel.
- The Child/Caregiver clicks "Send", and Photo Patch makes sure everything is printed, packaged and mailed to the parent for the child.
Children can upload Photos from any device or any website.
With
Photo Patch its easy.
(Click any demo image below to zoom in)
Let's work together to get these kids started!!!
Are you the parent of a child who has an incarcerated parent?
Are you the gaurdian of a child who has an incarcerated parent?
Are you an organization that helps children who have an incarcerated parent?
Well great! Each child needs someone to log in for them and make sure they have no trouble uploading photos and typing prison appropriate letters. You can be that person!
Photo Patch for Adults
Sign up now for the Photo Patch Adult version!
Sign yourself up!
Upload
Sign a child up
Contribute
Contribute
Here
are just 3 reasons why Photo Patch Foundation was created.
Hopefully they will inspire you to help
us help them:
“There is only one way to look at things until someone shows us how to look at them with different eyes.” – Pablo Picasso
Inclusion
Children of incarcerated parents commit no crime, but endure much of the punishment. By creating a stable support system, we can provide an environment that allows children to express themselves without fear of judgment.
You’ll help a child beat the odds
Touch me and learn More...
"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” – Nelson Mandela
Resilience
In order for a child to overcome the traumatic event of a parent incarceration, the child should:
Have a reliable support system
Maintain a positive, healthy relationship with his or her parent
Be free of the stigma that accompanies incarceration
A lot of help is needed, but it starts with you
Encourage a friend
"Every child is my child"
Community
Research has found that children with incarcerated parents are at significantly higher risk
than their peers to eventually become incarcerated one day themselves.
If we are able to reach these children before they fall into the cycle of intergenerational
incarceration, there is hope for a brighter future.
Contribute today and you'll give these children the means to
express themselves to their parents.
And did we
mention that we'll do all the work for you: Print. Package.
Seal. Ship. Confirm.
And did we mention that we'll do all the work for you: Print. Package. Seal. Ship. Confirm.
Contact Us
Contact Us