To: The Arizona State House, The Arizona State Senate, and Governor Doug Ducey

Extended Family Visits in Arizona

Arizona needs to have extended family visits. Other states are doing this and I think Arizona should make a change and have these here. My child has been acting out since my hubby has been gone and she wants him home and she doesn't understand where he is. She asks to go stay with him. I think and feel if some of these men had such privileges there would not be as many problems in the prison system as they are now. Arizona should at least TRY it out to see how it works. They have money to build more prisons, so how come you can't build places for extended family visits? It's hard on a lot of us single mothers raising small children to explain why they can't lay next to their father. The system doesn't realize that maybe with family visits they can not only keep families close, but stop kids from growing up with anger issues and possibly becoming the next "inmate" in their system. I see a lot of children and teenagers who are very rebellious cause their father is not there, and they end up in the same place their father is in. Let's stop the cycle and support family visits in Arizona.

Why is this important?

I'm starting this petition because I'm a single mother, my husband is incarcerated, and my 4 year old has been acting out since he's been gone. She asks for him and cries for him and I see how it has affected her in many ways. She asks to go sleep with her Dad and she wants him to watch movies with her. How can someone deny a child from being with the father regardless of where he is? I hope this petition is passed around and signed.