BY EMELINE COKELET
CLALLAM BAY — For a day, these men will be fathers.
They will replace their prison uniforms with matching T-shirts, help their children heap picnic food onto their plates, and maybe play their first games of catch with their sons or daughters.
On Father’s Day weekend this June, inmates at Clallam Bay Corrections Center will get the chance to spend a day with their children as fathers, not prisoners, in a new program prison officials hope will increase family ties.
“Our goal is to improve the relationship that they have with their children,” said LeAnne Fletcher, the prison’s spokeswoman and community involvement coordinator.
“Kids are part of the victims of these inmates’ crimes.”
Clallam Bay’s first Father’s and Children’s Day Program, June 14 and 15, is a family-focused program designed to allow offenders and their legal children under age 18 to interact through child-oriented activities.
Inmates who meet certain strict criteria will be eligible for the program.
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