COPING partners TUD and Treffpunkt e.V. prepared the public event “Wenn Papa im Gefängnis sitzt – Hilfebedarf und Hilfen für die Kinder von Inhaftierten” (“If daddy is in prison – needs and support for the children of prisoners”), which took place prior to a project consortium meeting in Dresden.
The aim of the symposium was to present the first results of the COPING study to raise public awareness for the interests of children and families of prisoners. Professionals and volunteers from ministries of justice, prison staff, staff of specialized community-based services as well as youth welfare offices allover Saxony and other federal states in Germany attended the event, alongside many of the project researchers.
The program included presentations of representatives of the ministry “Sächsisches Staatsministerium der Justiz und für Europa”, of providers of prison-based interventions, and of other projects related to children of prisoners, as well as video sessions with two children from the UK and presentations of current study results from Germany, UK, Sweden and Romania.
A brochure with information and contacts of all specialized community-based interventions in Germany was presented at the symposium after the release of a short documentary entitled “Daddy Is in Prison”, which portrays the stories of two young girls whose fathers are incarcerated. The children were discovered by Treffpunkt e.V. during the interview process of the COPING project and volunteered their stories for the film.