The Get on the Bus program, run by the Center for Restorative Justice Works (CRJW), held an early Father's Day event at the Correctional Training Facility (CTF) in Soledad, California, on 13 June. More than a hundred families traveled by bus, underwent security searches, and entered the visiting room to reunite with incarcerated loved ones. The event aimed to strengthen parent-child bonds and improve mental health for children of incarcerated fathers.
Emotional Reunions and Free Meals
Families lined up for a free breakfast of packaged snacks, bananas, coffee, juice, and donated bagels and donuts. Normally, families must buy overpriced vending machine food—a soda costs about $3, and a frozen burrito or cheeseburger $10. With up to five visitors per family, costs can exceed $100 per visit. Alisa Romero, who brought her daughter and grandson to see her husband Richard, noted that the program reduces financial stress. Families spend about $350 billion annually on incarceration, limiting visit frequency.
Strengthening Bonds Despite Incarceration
Liz Ríos, executive director of CRJW, said: “Their parent is going to go home one day, and we want that bond to remain, so we’re working to help the children with what occurred in the past, and those feelings of abandonment and shame, but also to help them in their own future and have a strong family unit.” Richard Romero’s children cried when he entered the room; the family played board games, took photos, and caught up on milestones.
Special Celebrations: Graduation and Birthdays
For the Vallis family, the event also celebrated a son’s high school graduation with his stepdad, Derrick Ware, who had missed the ceremony. Fathers handed out teddy bears to children as physical reminders of the day. A woman sang Happy Birthday to her husband for the first time in years since his incarceration.
Bittersweet Goodbyes
The six-hour visit felt like 20 minutes. Families exited through one side, incarcerated fathers through another. Children cried, clutching teddy bears for comfort on the bus ride back to Los Angeles. A teen girl fell asleep with the bear as a pillow; a toddler clung to hers the whole way home.
