By-Line: Joseph Bober, FCSO
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and Parkview Church partnered to reunite inmates with their children during the holiday season in a new program called “Joy Beyond Walls: A Christmas Connection with FCSO and Parkview Church.”
The 2024 Joy Beyond Walls: A Christmas Connection with FCSO and Parkview Church
Inmates who are part of the jail’s Successful Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Treatment (SMART) program and who had children under 15 years of age were invited to participate in the event.
During the event, which was held at Parkview Church on December 9 under the watchful eyes of detention deputies, the inmates, and their children were temporarily reunited to eat lunch, enjoy cookies and hot chocolate, and craft an ornament to memorialize what will hopefully be their last Christmas apart.
In addition, Parkview Church members provided wrapped gifts to the children, which they opened alongside their fathers.
Inmates interact with their families during Joy Beyond Walls: A Christmas Connection with FCSO and Parkview Church
“Improving inmate outcomes, improves our community,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “Inmates are being held accountable, but their children shouldn’t be punished for the mistakes of their father. Holidays can be a hard time for our inmates but even harder for their children. Studies show that children of people in jail often become offenders when they grow up, and we wanted to stop the cycle and let children of inmates know their father loves them. Inmates in our SMART program work hard and are committed to turning their lives around, so we wanted a way to reward them and break the generational cycle through our ‘Joy Beyond Walls’ program. A very special thank you to Parkview Church for helping us put this program together and providing gifts to the children. We look forward to making ‘Joy Beyond Walls’ a yearly tradition.”
