The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal

NY Inmates Finish Courses in Marriage, Parenting

Associated Press
June 22, 2011

OSSINING, N.Y. — More than 50 inmates at Sing Sing graduated Wednesday, to the cheers of relatives and fellow prisoners, from courses designed to help them become better husbands and fathers.

Some of the men smiled broadly, some shyly, as they stepped forward to accept their certificates in parenting and "healthy relationships."

Other inmates shouted the graduates' names in support, and wives, girlfriends and children applauded, in a bright, windowed room at the famous old maximum security prison.

Jamar Fuller said he took the 32-hour parenting course because he has a 15-year-old daughter and he gets out of prison next year.

"I like being father. I am a father. I need to sharpen my skills at being a father," he said. His daughter "wants to see a lot of me when I get out and I want it to go well," he said.

Raheem Fenty sat his 5-year-old son, Raheem Jr., on his lap before the ceremony. "Before this program, I thought there wouldn't be anything I could do for him, being a father in prison. But I've learned there's a lot I can do from here: write letters, go over his homework, be a better role model," he said.

Gerald Harrison's wife and two daughters, ages 7 and 14, drove nine hours from Garner, N.C., for the ceremony. He's been through both the parenting and relationships courses and he said, "I've learned to appreciate my wife for maintaining the family."

Harrison, 46, who is incarcerated until 2017, also said he's committed to "help my daughters make better decisions than I did."

His daughter Briana, 14, said, "He's interested in what's going on in my life. He knows what to say."

None of the three prisoners would say what crimes they were imprisoned for. Sing Sing generally takes in convicts who have sentences of longer than five years.

One of the speakers was a previous graduate, Raymond Vanclief, who was sentenced to 23 years for manslaughter after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He called the classes "an opportunity to educate ourselves about our children's development and to take steps to fix the broken bonds" between parent and child.

The courses are offered by the Osborne Association, which works to smooth prisoners' return to society. The association is named for a former Sing Sing warden, Thomas Mott Osborne.

Elizabeth Gaynes, executive director of the association, said the classes help the inmates become better family men even while they're still in prison.

"A letter, a visit, it's not the same as a trip to the Bronx Zoo, but if they work at it they can make a difference for their families and kids," she said.

Jim Purdy, deputy superintendent of programs at Sing Sing, said the marriage courses involve eight or 10 couples meeting on a Sunday with Osborne social workers.

"They're meant to help the men work out issues in marriages or other significant relationships," he said.

In the parenting classes, which are prisoner-only, he said, "Osborne staff meet with the inmates, encourage them to communicate better. They show the men how to write letters to their children, what to say when you call home. Don't just tell the children, 'What did you do that for,' but maintain a positive relationship."

Tanya Krupat, a program director for the Osborne Association, said the classes can help inmates when they come before a parole board or when they seek more time with their children.

"Parole wants to see proof of rehabilitation and productive use of time," she said. "With a custody or visitation issue, it's beneficial and sometimes required by the courts. But even if there's no court involvement, a man can demonstrate to a mother or a grandmother or whomever that he really has gained skills. He's learned to step into the child's shoes and see what the child is going through."

"When the children are visiting they see a more empathetic father," she added. "They can experience the joy that goes with being a father."

Sing Sing, often portrayed in gangster movies, is a maximum security prison housing about 1,700 inmates. It opened in 1826 on the Hudson River in Ossining, about 30 miles north of New York City. The phrase "up the river" was coined with Sing Sing in mind.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, were executed at Sing Sing in 1953.