Inmates learn to become better fathers

[danielle]

Inmates learn to become better fathers
Posted on August 16, 2003

"It's shown me the true responsibility of being a father. ... I was able to let them know daddy is coming home and he'll be a better father." -- Robert Johnson, inmate in Long Distance Dads program

NATCHITOCHES, LA - With his first child days from being delivered, Troy Killough is learning to become a father while behind prison bars.

The 22-year-old Shreveport native is one of a number prisoners from six parishes ready to take an official step toward that goal today when they graduate from the Louisiana Long Distance Dads program.

Killough said his training and experience with the program and the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center will serve him well as a father.

"It's been a benefit, because you're learning from fathers who have experience," Killough said. "I'm looking forward to being a father to that child. A lot of the guys in here didn't receive that. That's why they are in here right now."

The program is designed to teach inmates the value of responsibility to their children, all the while promoting strong values and a renewal of self-pride.

The graduation will take place at 6 p.m. today in the Boys and Girls Club of Natchitoches. It is open to graduates' family members and friends and to financial supporters of the program.

Killough said one of the program's elements, a personality questionnaire, helped him the most.

"It showed me who I really am," he said. "That was very important to me. It gave an honest view of who I am and what it will take for me to raise my child."

Sandra Ratliff, a Natchitoches Parish correctional officer and the program's coordinator, said the program's benefits extend beyond the inmates themselves.

"It means as much to the children as anything," Ratliff said. "It encourages these fathers to pay child support, gain lawful employment and be supportive influences on their children's lives."

Though the program already has seen six graduations, this one will be unprecedented in nature. It will be the first in which graduates will represent more than one parish.

Inmates from Grant, Natchitoches, Rapides, Bienville, DeSoto and Red River parishes will participate in the ceremony. Expected to be in attendance will be sheriffs of each of the parishes represented. Guest speakers will include Johnny Creed, assistant secretary of the Department of Corrections. Creed is based out of Gov. Mike Foster's office.

Also speaking will be John Chacon, executive director of the National Fatherhood Initiative. The NFI is the program's nationwide sponsor.

Whatever stories the guest speakers tell, they won't be any more impactful than the stories being lived out by the graduates. During the inmates' training, this class has seen three accepted marriage proposals, seven earned GEDs and 10 enrollments in Louisiana Technical College extended enrollment programs. Those inmates are studying carpentry, refrigeration, small motors and mechanics.

Morgan City native Robert Johnson, 39, said his graduation will be especially sweet. Johnson said the program is helping him put a past as a negligent father in his rearview mirror as he looks forward to a 2005 release. He now longs to show what he has learned to 11-year-old Keenan and 13-year-old Corinthian.

"It's shown me the true responsibility of being a father," Johnson said. "I've neglected them because of my own selfishness. This program has given me more time with my children that other (inmates) don't get. I was able to let them know daddy is coming home and he'll be a better father."

Comments like those have become sweetly familiar to Ratliff.

"These men were committed to being fathers from the moment of conception," Ratliff said. "They love their children, but most of them don't know how to express themselves. We're supplying them the tools to do so. We offer them life skills, support groups and the needed attention."