Once upon a Time
A look at how imprisoned parents use the power of stories to maintain contact with their kids.
In 2008 over 1.5 million Americans were incarcerated. And that is something like one in every hundred of working age adults.
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But as the number of adults in prison increases so do the number of children with parents behind bars – and often they are facing very lengthy sentences.
The effect of this is to deprive these children of some of the key parental contact which is integral to them growing up in a supportive environment which will help them not to tread the same path.
Once Upon a Time is a film about an innovative project which sets out to tackle this.
Aunt Mary’s Storybook Project is a scheme aimed at uniting jailed parents and their kids through reading. It uses the power of words and the recorded human voice to impact positively the lives of inmates and their children.
The project, which began in Chicago in 1993, now operates throughout Illinois and has inspired similar programs in more than 20 states.
Witness follows the experience of two mothers, Latonya and Maria as the Storybook Project helps them in their struggle to maintain a connection with their children through their own voice recordings of the children’s books.
Published On 4 Jul 2010