Mom, please come back. Grandma is to tired. She can’t put my Christmas tree. I need you Mom.
I cry every day because I need you. Please come home.
- letter to Mom, Kelvin, age 10

 

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Children of incarcerated parents are innocent victims, caught in a vicious cycle of crime and punishment. Deprived of their parents, they are plunged into danger, trapped in a spiral of social abandonment.  While current federal and state laws dealing with drugs and domestic violence do great harm to parents, they devastate their children. Most of them experience a broad range of painful emotions including fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, loneliness and guilt. Academic performance often deteriorates.  Some of the behaviors manifested include uncontrollable and random anger, depression, attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity.  Ann Jacobs, former director of the Women’s Prison Association, has stated that children with an incarcerated parent are highly susceptible to gang involvement, early pregnancy and early criminal activity. Without significant intervention, one in 10 will be jailed before adulthood.

GOAL

Our goal is to make children of incarcerated parents visible, for they are seldom seen; and to give them voice, for they are rarely, if ever heard.  The Word Is Love gives our subjects an opportunity to tell their stories in their own words; and universal chord their stories strike is this: we all share the basic human need to love and be loved.  Can these children connect to love once the bond with a primary caretaker has been broken?  How does this damaged bond affect all other relationships?  We believe our documentary will inform, involve and motivate the viewing audience.  Our greatest goal is to create a positive change for the children of incarcerated parents.