Children Visiting Prisons - Kingston, Inc. is a non-profit volunteer organization that is an associate member of O.M.E.P. Canada. Our mission is to enhance the visiting experiences of children with an incarcerated parent by providing programs and workshops during the visiting sessions. We believe that a father in prison is still a father and can play an important role in his child's life.
Our Goals:
- To provide activities for children during prison visits.
- To help maintain the play areas within prisons.
- To help develop and maintain toy libraries used for private family visits.
- To provide resources on how to tell the children about incarceration.
- To promote parenting workshops for inmates on weekends.
WE NEED YOU!
As a CVP volunteer, you can read stories and do crafts with kids, maintain play areas, and support families experiencing incarceration.
Membership is $10 per year.
Children's Activity Areas:
We help normalize the visiting experience for children without normalizing prison or incarceration by advocating for safe, fun play areas in local institutions such as Bath, Collins Bay and Joyceville.
Without programs, services and support, a child who has a parent in prison faces many risks. While this is not a predictor of future difficulty, research shows that one of the risks for future criminal involvement is the incarceration of a parent.
CVP has resources to assist families and caregivers to explain incarceration to children. We have compiled a list of books and where they can be found. Workbooks on the same topic are also available for sale.
If interested, contact Joyce Waddell-Townsend c/o Bridge House, 333 Kingscourt Avenue, Kingston, ON K7K 4P4 or call (613) 549-1688.
