The F.A.C.T. Program is a collaborative effort of Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky and Blackburn Correctional Complex (BCC). While the program was developed at BCC in 1992, services were recently expanded to Kentucky State Reformatory (KSR) during FY 2009 in partnership with KSR and Family and Children Place, Inc.

The goals of the program are to teach fathers who are incarcerated to be responsible parents, to understand and communicate with their children and to recognize the importance of the role they play as fathers. Progress made toward these goals is a major step in breaking the familial cycle of abuse, as well as giving their children the reassurance and stability which is associated with having their father involved in their lives. 

Fathers who are enrolled or have graduated from the 13 week course are entitled to "special" visits with their children in an environment which is child friendly and free from the often intimidating presence of uniformed officers. During these supervised visits the fathers also practice the skills they have learned in the classroom.

The program has continued to evolve in order to best meet the needs of inmates and their families. Two additional components of the program include the Storybook Project and the Inmate Advisory Council.

The Storybook and Video Messages Project allows F.A.C.T. participants the opportunity to make a video recording while reading a storybook to their child or compose some other type of constructive message they would like to send.  The storybooks and message DVD’s are then mailed to their child free of charge.

The Parent Leadership Team was established to provide inmates with an avenue to make suggestions and share their thoughts about the program.  Fathers are provided the opportunity to make recommendations for changes to benefit the participants of the program.   

For more information about F.A.C.T. please contact Joel Griffith.