Prison & Jail Programs

Fostering Positive Identities as Parents

Participants discuss ways to stay connected, nurture, and love their children while incarcerated.

We offer a safe space where group members connect to their children no matter where they are on the parenting journey.

Our trained volunteers facilitate weekly support groups in the prisons and jails in the Greater Boston Area. In these settings, our goal is to create a safe space where group members connect to their children no matter where they are on the parenting journey. Participants discuss ways to stay connected, nurture, and love their children even when they are separated. 

The parenting experience for those who are incarcerated is unique to each individual. PHP develops programs to meet varying needs and interests. We use a trauma-informed, mutual aid group model where members of the group help one another through a combination of trust, validation, support, and collective wisdom.  Each group adopts its own rules which always include confidentiality (to the extent permitted in a prison setting) and establishing a judgment-free forum.

“Inmates are just like the rest of us parents. They love their kids, but struggle to feel loved and needed by their kids. They especially like that PHP groups are safe, confidential spaces for open sharing. They learn a lot from each other, and I learn something new every group.”

–Linda Perry, PHP Group Facilitator for Fathers in Prison

Current Prison & Jail Programs

  • MCI - Norfolk is the largest medium security level facility in Massachusetts, housing criminally sentenced males.

  • The South Bay House of Correction is a Suffolk County jail that houses houses adult male and female inmates convicted of crimes with a sentence of 2½ years or less.

  • The Housing Unit for Military Veterans (HUMV) is open to both sentenced and pretrial individuals, who have served at home or abroad.

Volunteer as a correctional institution group facilitator.

Our trained volunteers facilitate weekly support groups in prisons and jails in the Greater Boston Area. In these settings, our goal is to create a safe space where group members connect to their children no matter where they are on the parenting journey. Please note that all facilitators must complete the volunteer training at the group facility as well as PHP group training. All facilitators must pass a CORI check.