By Jennifer Whiteside The absence of a father in the home has been shown to have serious negative effects on a child’s development: They’re more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, and they’re more likely to be involved in crime, as a victim, an offender or both. Keeping fathers involved in their children’s lives is essential, but it’s tricky when the father is no longer married to the mother, or they weren’t married in the first place. Sometimes, courts recognize a father’s value and grant a meaningful shared-parenting schedule and shared decision-making. But too often, the courts shortchange the father, or the parents have an informal agreement which doesn’t protect the father’s rights. Another problem is when fathers are incarcerated. They have little or no contact with their children while they’re locked up, and when they get out, they’ve missed time with their kids, so their relationship has deteriorated. This can be bad for the children, and bad as well for the dad as he re-enters society and tries to live a law-abiding life. The Fatherhood Educational Institute, founded by attorney Jeffery M. Leving, has a solution: Virtual visitation. The technology now exists, and is easy and cheap enough to use, for incarcerated fathers and their families to visit regularly via video conference. This is beneficial because it allows dads and their kids to have frequent, regular contact via video, and it spares the family the difficulty and often unaffordable expense of a trip to a prison, which may be in a location distant from the family’s residence. “Children need to know that they have the love of both their parents,” says Leving, now president emeritus of the FEI. “Using virtual visitation, an incarcerated father can see and hear his child in real time and build a relationship that otherwise would not be possible.” Virtual visitation is especially valuable for men who are serving shorter sentences, because they’ll be back with their kids in real life quickly. But experts say there’s value in virtual visitation even for men who are serving long-term or life sentences: They are still the father of their children, and virtual visitation allows them to contribute what they can to their children’s upbringing, even from behind bars. The FEI is working to make virtual visitation available, at no cost to inmates or their families, throughout the Illinois Department of Corrections. Leving, who has been practicing family law for 40 years and is a national leader in advocating for fathers, is the author of Fathers’ Rights and How to be a Good Divorced Dad. The FEI has built a program of parent education for struggling fathers that uses mentoring, expert discussions and links to further informational resources to help in that effort. On its website, the organization has posted moving information on the importance of virtual visitation.

1. THE IMPORTANCE OF VIRTUAL VISITATION
FOR INCARCERATED FATHERS-AND KIDS
JEFFERY LEVING

2. INTRODUCTION
By Jennifer Whiteside
The absence of a father in the home has been shown to have serious negative effects on a child’s development: They’re
more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, and they’re more likely to be involved in crime, as a victim, an offender or both.
Keeping fathers involved in their children’s lives is essential, but it’s tricky when the father is no longer married to the
mother, or they weren’t married in the first place. Sometimes, courts recognize a father’s value and grant a meaningful
shared-parenting schedule and shared decision-making. But too often, the courts shortchange the father, or the
parents have an informal agreement which doesn’t protect the father’s rights.

3. Another problem is when fathers are incarcerated. They have little or no contact with their children while they’re
locked up, and when they get out, they’ve missed time with their kids, so their relationship has deteriorated. This can
be bad for the children, and bad as well for the dad as he re-enters society and tries to live a law-abiding life.
The Fatherhood Educational Institute, founded by attorney Jeffery M. Leving, has a solution: Virtual visitation.
The technology now exists, and is easy and cheap enough to use, for incarcerated fathers and their families to visit
regularly via video conference. This is beneficial because it allows dads and their kids to have frequent, regular contact
via video, and it spares the family the difficulty and often unaffordable expense of a trip to a prison, which may be in a
location distant from the family’s residence.

4. “Children need to know that they have the love of both their parents,” says Leving, now president emeritus of the FEI.
“Using virtual visitation, an incarcerated father can see and hear his child in real time and build a relationship that
otherwise would not be possible.”
Virtual visitation is especially valuable for men who are serving shorter sentences, because they’ll be back with their
kids in real life quickly. But experts say there’s value in virtual visitation even for men who are serving long-term or life
sentences: They are still the father of their children, and virtual visitation allows them to contribute what they can to
their children’s upbringing, even from behind bars.
The FEI is working to make virtual visitation available, at no cost to inmates or their families, throughout the Illinois
Department of Corrections.

5. Leving, who has been practicing family law for 40 years and is a national leader in advocating for fathers, is the author
of Fathers’ Rights and How to be a Good Divorced Dad.
The FEI has built a program of parent education for struggling fathers that uses mentoring, expert discussions and
links to further informational resources to help in that effort. On its website, the organization has posted moving
information on the importance of virtual visitation.
Interested members of the public can follow this developing project, and hear from a formerly incarcerated father
about his love for his daughter, at fatherhood-edu.org.