Parenting, Children, and Families (Program Statement 5355.04)

By Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., and Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA

Field	Value
Program Statement	5355.04
Subject	Parenting, Children, and Families
Effective / current edition	04-14-2022
Change notices	None. BOP’s published policy list carries 5355.04 with no change notice.
Supersedes	PS 5355.03, Parenting Program Standards (1/20/1995), rescinded — PS 5355.04 at p. 1
Governing statute	The Program Statement cites none. The statutes that actually move a family case are the Bureau’s placement authority, 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b), which directs placement “in a facility within 500 driving miles” of the person’s primary residence where practicable; the First Step Act reentry initiative at 34 U.S.C. § 60541(a)(1)(F), which directs the Bureau to collect information about family relationships and parental responsibilities; and the federal child-welfare timetable at 42 U.S.C. § 675(5)(E).
28 C.F.R. anchor	None. There is no BOP parenting regulation. Verified through a full search of 28 C.F.R. chapter V — no rule governs parenting programs, Children’s Days, or Children’s Centers. The regulations that touch this policy from the outside are 28 C.F.R. § 540.44 (children on the visiting list, and supervision of children) and 28 C.F.R. § 523.41(a)(2) (the First Step Act’s list of program categories). See What binds and what does not.
Related BP forms	BP-A0192 Release of Information Consent — PS 5355.04 at p. 11. The pregnancy-program referrals run on forms named in the Female Offender Manual: BP-A0351 Medical/Psychological Pre-Release Evaluation, BP-A0377 Inmate Load and Security Designation, BP-A0210 Institutional Referral for CCC Placement (PS 5200.09 at pp. 22–23).
Official PDF	bop.gov/policy/progstat/5355_004.pdf

Checked against the BOP policy set · 2026-09-06.

Program Statement 5355.04 is the Bureau of Prisons’ instruction to its own staff on what every federal prison has to offer a parent inside and the family outside: a standardized parenting course, a second tier of specialized parenting programs, at least one children-and-family event a year, a Children’s Center in every visiting room, and family services for people whose connection to home is part of their mental-health care. It also fixes what happens to a parent’s contact with a minor child after a disciplinary sanction, and it tells staff to help when a state child-welfare agency starts termination-of-parental-rights proceedings.

This is the policy that answers “what is my prison actually supposed to offer my kids and me.” It is not the policy that answers “will parenting class shorten my sentence” — that is a First Step Act question, governed by PS 5410.01 and the Bureau’s approved-programs guide, and covered below under What it means for you. A general orientation for relatives is at What Families Should Know About Federal Prison; the practical walkthrough of a visit is at Inmate Visitation.

The rule itself: parenting programs

Everything in this section is transcribed from the Bureau’s own text at bop.gov/policy/progstat/5355_004.pdf, with the page anchor for each passage.

Who counts as a parent, and who counts as a child

This matters more than it looks, because the Bureau’s definition is broader than a birth certificate. PS 5355.04 at p. 1 (transcribed verbatim):

1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE

To ensure the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) provides programs, services, and policies that meet the needs of incarcerated parents and those who serve as caregivers to inmate families in the community. This policy also sets standards for institution events involving children and for services related to family engagement.

Definitions:

– Child – includes any person, who identifies as an inmate’s offspring or is verified as being a biological, adoptive, foster, or stepchild of an inmate. In limited circumstances, and only based on sufficient evidence, the Warden may acknowledge under this definition persons other than biological, adoptive, foster, or stepchildren. – Parent –biological, adoptive, foster, step-parent, caregiver, or legal guardian. In limited circumstances, and only based on sufficient evidence, the Warden may acknowledge under this definition persons other than a biological parent, adoptive parent, foster parent, step-parent, caregiver, or legal guardian.

Two limits ride along with those definitions. The policy applies to people under 18: “Activities and services outlined in this policy refer to those who are under 18 years of age, unless otherwise noted” (p. 3). And for the broader question of who is family, the policy borrows the visiting definition: “The Bureau relies on a broad definition of parents and families as outlined in the Program Statement Visiting Regulations. This may include immediate family members such as mother, father, step-parents, foster parents, brothers, sisters, spouse, and children; other relatives such as grandparents, uncles, aunts, in-laws, and cousins; and friends and associates of the inmate if a relationship existed prior to incarceration” (p. 4).

The program components every institution offers

Component	The Program Statement’s own words	Pin-cite
National Parenting Program (phase one)	“All institutions are required to offer programming from the FSA Approved Programs Guide that meets the family/parenting need. Parenting programs are delivered via a two-phase model. The National Parenting Program is the first phase of this model; it consists of a standardized four-session course.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 6
Specialty parenting programs (phase two)	“The second phase of parenting programming includes a series of specialized programs for targeted segments of the parenting population, such as programs for parents of adolescent children or those for inmates raising their grandchild. All institutions must offer phase two programs from the FSA Approved Programs Guide to meet the individual needs of the local population.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 6
Children’s Day and other family events	“Annually, every institution must offer at least one event focused on children and family engagement.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 7
Programs for pregnant women	“The Bureau offers two programs for pregnant women, Mothers and Infants Together (MINT) and the Residential Parenting Program. Information about these programs and associated referral processes is available in the Program Statement Female Offender Manual.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 8
Family services	“Family services are designed to assist inmates in maintaining healthy connections with the community, which can promote prosocial behavior during incarceration and upon reentry.”	PS 5355.04 at pp. 8–9
Family psychoeducation	“Psychologists may provide family psychoeducation to inmates and their families. When this occurs, the inmate is always the identified patient and must sign a Release of Information Consent (BP-A0192) indicating a Bureau staff member is allowed to release information about his/her mental health status to family members. Bureau staff members do not provide mental health treatment to inmate family members.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 9
Family therapy in a halfway house or on home confinement	“Inmates in Residential Reentry Centers (RRC) and/or on home confinement may participate in family therapy through Community Treatment Services (CTS). Inmates who are interested may inquire about these services through RRC staff or by contacting the CTS office that oversees treatment in their respective location.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 9
A Children’s Center in the visiting room	“All institutions must have a designated Children’s Center to accommodate children from infancy through age 12. Any institution not capable of creating this space due to structural limitations may request a waiver through the Regional Director to the Assistant Director, Reentry Services Division.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 9
Child-friendly materials in the lobby	“All institutions must provide some type of child-friendly materials in the lobby or other areas where visitors wait to visit inmates. These should include, at a minimum, a small selection of books or magazines.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 10
Self-help and educational materials	“All institutions will provide self-help and educational materials during Children’s Days and other parenting events as well as through the National Parenting Program. At a minimum, these materials will include information about working with caregivers, effective strategies to stay connected while incarcerated, and safe housing options for children.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 10
Staff training	“Staff are provided information on this topic through the ‘Children of Incarcerated Parents’ course. All institution staff are required to complete this course within one year of the issuance of this policy, or one year of hire, whichever is later.”	PS 5355.04 at p. 4

The numbers

Every numeric limit and time frame in the Program Statement, in one place. These are the figures worth quoting to a unit team.

The number	What it governs	Pin-cite
Four sessions	Length of the standardized National Parenting Program course	PS 5355.04 at p. 6
Quarterly	How often phase one “must be offered” to the general population	PS 5355.04 at p. 6
At least once every six months	How often phase one must be offered to pretrial inmates	PS 5355.04 at p. 6
Not required	Phase one for holdover and detainee inmates — “this phase may be offered, although it is not required”	PS 5355.04 at p. 6
At least one per year	Children-and-family events per institution	PS 5355.04 at p. 7
At least one month prior	Deadline to submit written justification to the Women and Special Populations Branch for any event with activities beyond “arts and crafts, reading books, and educational activities/games”	PS 5355.04 at pp. 7–8
At least two community agencies	Outreach that “must be maintained” in documentation for each event	PS 5355.04 at p. 8
Infancy through age 12	Age range a Children’s Center accommodates	PS 5355.04 at p. 9
15 of the most recent 22 months	Time in foster care that triggers the federal termination-of-parental-rights filing requirement	PS 5355.04 at p. 9
One year of issuance, or one year of hire	Deadline for institution staff to complete the “Children of Incarcerated Parents” course	PS 5355.04 at p. 4
Annually	Frequency of the WASPB report on parent and family services, and of documented outreach to child development expert volunteers	PS 5355.04 at pp. 3, 10
None required	Institution Supplement — “Should local facilities make any changes outside changes required in national policy or establish any additional local procedures to implement national policy, the local Union may invoke to negotiate”	PS 5355.04 at p. 2

There is no offense-based exclusion — and here is what the policy says instead

Families ask this constantly, usually in the form “can he go to Children’s Day with a case like his.” Read carefully: PS 5355.04 contains no offense-based exclusion from parenting programs or family events. What it contains is the opposite instruction. PS 5355.04 at p. 7 (transcribed verbatim):

Events are inclusive of all inmates who are parents; however, local facilities may set specific guidelines and participation criteria to meet the needs of their population and/or to enhance the safety of inmates, visitors, and staff. Staff will consider institutional conduct, such as positive program participation and lack of or reduced number of incident reports, not just an inmate’s criminal history (as long as the safety of others is not compromised), when allowing inmates to participate in such programs.

Three real limits do exist, and they are all somewhere other than criminal history:

Discipline. “Inmates may be precluded from participating in programs due to disciplinary infractions as outlined in the Program Statements Visiting Regulations and Inmate Discipline Program” (p. 4). But the policy then puts a floor under contact with children — the single most important sentence in the document for a parent facing a shot:

When an inmate is disciplined for an infraction, staff will ensure at least one method of contacting minor children remains available. When all methods of contact with minor children are removed for visiting related infractions, documentation is provided by the staff removing it, to the Unit Team for notation in progress notes. When inmates receive sanctions impacting contact with minor children, they can appeal to the CEO or Region as outlined in the Program Statement Administrative Remedy Program on a case-by-case basis to further promote family relationships. (PS 5355.04 at p. 5)

Capacity. “Ideally, events are able to accommodate all interested and qualified inmates and families. When space limits event capacity, priority for participation is linked to parenting program completion or wait list status” (p. 8). And for phase two: “Inmates who have completed the National Parenting Program are given priority for enrollment in a phase two parenting program” (p. 7). Finishing the four-session course is how you move up the list.

A conviction involving a minor changes supervision, not eligibility. Where a minor-victim conviction actually bites is in the visiting room, under a different Program Statement. PS 5267.09, Visiting Regulations (8/1/2023), directs at p. 21 that the unit team evaluate every person on the caseload “to determine if they have an inmate who has been convicted of a sex offense involving a minor (WA W CONV),” that an annotation be placed in the visiting program, and that “[a]ny inmate identified as having a Walsh Act assignment involving a minor will have his/her visits closely monitored. Specific procedures will be determined locally by the Warden.” PS 5267.09 at p. 5 puts “[p]rocedures addressing supervision of inmates convicted of a Walsh Act offense involving a minor” into each institution’s local supplement. That is monitoring and local procedure — not a rule that a person with such a conviction may never take a parenting class. See Visiting Regulations and Sex Offender Programs.

MINT and the Residential Parenting Program

PS 5355.04 names both programs and then hands them off: “Information about these programs and associated referral processes is available in the Program Statement Female Offender Manual” (p. 8). The operating rules are therefore in PS 5200.09, Female Offender Manual (2/19/2025, CN-1 7/31/2025). Both passages below were read against the original PDF, not only the extracted text, because a change-notice document can hide struck-through language in extraction; pages 22 and 23 carry no strikethrough and no highlighting.

Mothers and Infants Together (MINT) — PS 5200.09 at pp. 22–23:

MINT is a residential program promoting bonding skills for designated pregnant inmates housed in RRC Facilities. The inmate resides with the child at all times inside a contract Residential Reentry Center (RRC). Female inmates are eligible to enter the program at the RRC generally during their last two months of pregnancy. After birth, the mother is allowed at least three additional months to bond with the child, although a minimum of six months is recommended. The mother is then returned to an institution to complete her sentence, if necessary.

The CEO may approve early or extended placements with a recommendation by the treating obstetrician and Clinical Director’s concurrence. A placement extending beyond 180 days requires the Regional Director’s approval.

To qualify for the program, inmates must be pregnant upon commitment, with an expected delivery prior to release. The inmate or guardian must assume financial responsibility for the child’s care, medical and support, while residing at the RRC. … An inmate who becomes pregnant while on furlough, has more than five years remaining to serve on her sentence(s), or plans to place her baby up for adoption must not be referred for MINT placement.

Referrals should state a specific date of placement approximately two months prior to the inmate’s expected delivery date.

The Residential Parenting Program (RPP) — PS 5200.09 at p. 23:

The Bureau has an inter-governmental agreement with the Washington Department of Corrections (WADOC) to place qualified, interested pregnant inmates in the RPP at the Washington Correctional Center for Females in Gig Harbor. This voluntary program allows designated pregnant inmates to reside with their child for up to 30 months post-delivery. After 30 months, inmates are released to their home residence if their sentences have been completed, or placed in home confinement if their sentences have not been completed and they meet the statutory requirements for home confinement. … Inmates in the program are eligible for a variety of services (mental health and medical care, vocational training, etc.); childcare is provided while the inmate is participating in these activities.

The Bureau provides for the infant’s medical expenses for the first three days after routine vaginal birth or up to seven days for a Caesarean section.

The referral chain for MINT runs Health Services → BP-A0351 → unit management → Residential Reentry Management Branch; for RPP it runs social worker and medical verification → unit team completes BP-A0210 → Seattle Residential Reentry Manager, with the Designation and Sentence Computation Center able to refer initial designations directly (PS 5200.09 at pp. 22–24). Nothing in either policy entitles anyone to a placement; both run on referral and approval. Related pages: Female Offender Manual, Women’s Federal Prisons, and Halfway House Placement Procedures.

Visiting-room specifics the policy fixes

Small rules, but they decide what a visit with a two-year-old is actually like. All from PS 5355.04 at pp. 9–10:

• A Children’s Center “should contain the following for children from infancy through age 12: toys (soft and plastic figurines), board games, books (hardcover and softcover), and building blocks (small and large). All items will be sanitized on a regular basis, at least as often as the Visiting Room is cleaned, and kept in workable, safe condition. First Step Act funds will be used to cover any other expenses associated with replacing items and maintaining the Children’s Center.”
• “Although families may choose to wait outside, child visitors should not be required to wait outside during inclement weather, and the institution will post a statement to this effect.”
• “[I]nmates who have given birth while incarcerated have the option to pump breast milk for as long as desired. Nursing infants is permitted in the Visiting Room. Facilities do not prohibit access to formula, bottles, diapers, and wipes during visitation.”
• “A safe, hygienic diapering area should be available in the waiting area and Visiting Room.”
• On artwork made during a visit: “mementos such as family photographs and arts and crafts, made during visitation with materials provided by the institution, may be shared among the inmate and family members. In particular, it is strongly encouraged that children be allowed to keep these items when there is no discernible threat to security” (p. 5). Anything taken out of the visiting room “are considered personal property of the visitor and may be searched” under PS 5510.15.

What binds and what does not in PS 5355.04

A Program Statement is the Bureau’s internal instruction to its own staff. It is not a regulation. The Supreme Court said so directly in Reno v. Koray, 515 U.S. 50 (1995), describing a Program Statement as “an internal agency guideline” that is “akin to an ‘interpretive rule’ that ‘do[es] not require notice and comment,'” though “still entitled to some deference” where it is a “permissible construction of the statute.” When this page says the policy “directs staff” to do something, that is precise language, not hedging.

PS 5355.04 is an unusually pure example. It carries no bracketed-rules key and no color legend — the two typographic devices the Bureau uses to mark which sentences are regulation. There is nothing to mark, because there is no parenting regulation in 28 C.F.R. A search of the Bureau’s regulations in chapter V returns no rule on parenting programs, Children’s Days, or Children’s Centers. Everything above is policy, and policy alone.

Three regulations do bind from outside and are worth knowing by section number, because a request that cites a regulation is a different animal from one that cites a Program Statement:

Regulation	What it says
28 C.F.R. § 540.44(a)	Members of the immediate family — “mother, father, step-parents, foster parents, brothers and sisters, spouse, and children” — “are placed on the visiting list, absent strong circumstances which preclude visiting.”
28 C.F.R. § 540.44(e)	“Children under the age of 16 may not visit unless accompanied by a responsible adult. … Children shall be kept under supervision of a responsible adult or a children’s program. Exceptions in unusual circumstances may be made by special approval of the Warden.”
28 C.F.R. § 523.41(a)(2)	Evidence-Based Recidivism Reduction Programs “may include, but are not limited to,” activities involving “Family relationship building, structured parent-child interaction, and parenting skills.”

The middle one is the sleeper. Section 540.44(e) is the only place in the binding rules where a “children’s program” appears — and it appears as one of two lawful ways to supervise a child in a visiting room. That is regulatory footing for the Children’s Center that the Program Statement alone does not supply.

Applied Insight — Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA, Managing Director: The most useful sentence in this Program Statement is the one at p. 5 about disciplinary sanctions: staff “will ensure at least one method of contacting minor children remains available,” and where every method is stripped for a visiting-related infraction, the staff member who removed it documents that to the unit team for the progress notes. That gives you two concrete asks in a written request instead of a complaint. First: which method of contact with my minor child remains available, and on what date was it restored. Second: produce the documentation the removing staff member provided to the unit team. A cop-out that asks for two identifiable records gets answered far more often than one that asks a warden to reconsider.

What the parenting program means for you

If you are the parent inside

Start with the SPARC-13 need. The Bureau’s needs assessment includes a family/parenting need, and PS 5355.04 keys enrollment to it: “Any inmate who is identified as having the family/parenting need is considered for class enrollment” (p. 6). If you believe you have that need and no one has enrolled you, that is the exact phrase to use in writing — “family/parenting need,” not “I want a parenting class.”

Then work the sequence the policy actually rewards. Phase one is a four-session course offered quarterly. Completing it puts you ahead for phase two — “Inmates who have completed the National Parenting Program are given priority for enrollment in a phase two parenting program” (p. 7) — and ahead for a seat at a Children’s Day when space is short (p. 8). If you want the specialized program for parents of teenagers or for grandparents raising grandchildren, finish the basic course first.

Know who delivers it. Wardens assign delivery to the Special Populations Coordinator; if there is none, to the Reentry Affairs Coordinator or Social Worker; and if those positions are vacant, “Correctional Counselors may facilitate this program until the position is filled” (pp. 6–7). Addressing a request to the right title is half of getting an answer.

On the First Step Act question: do not assume a parenting class earns time credits. PS 5355.04 tells institutions to draw parenting programming “from the FSA Approved Programs Guide” (p. 6), and 28 C.F.R. § 523.41(a)(2) lists family relationship building and parenting skills among the categories an Evidence-Based Recidivism Reduction program may involve. But whether a specific, named program at your institution is an approved EBRR or Productive Activity is set by the approved-programs guide and by PS 5410.01, not by this Program Statement — and whether you can earn or apply credits is a separate eligibility question governed by statute and by PS 5405.01. Ask your unit team, in writing, for the program’s status in the guide. Never predict a date off a class roster.

If you are the family member on the outside

You have more leverage here than in almost any other corner of BOP policy, because most of what this Program Statement directs is aimed at the visiting room and the lobby, where you are standing.

Four concrete things. One: a Children’s Center is supposed to exist at every institution, stocked with toys, board games, hardcover and softcover books, and building blocks, cleaned as often as the visiting room (p. 9–10). If it does not exist, ask whether the institution has a waiver — the policy routes waivers “through the Regional Director to the Assistant Director, Reentry Services Division” (p. 9), so a waiver is a documented thing, not a shrug. Two: child visitors “should not be required to wait outside during inclement weather,” and the institution is directed to post a statement saying so (p. 10). Three: nursing is permitted in the visiting room and formula, bottles, diapers and wipes are not to be prohibited (p. 10). Four: the artwork your child makes during a visit is meant to go home with them where there is no discernible threat to security (p. 5).

On events: every institution is directed to hold at least one children-and-family event a year, and to document that at least two community agencies were invited (p. 8). If your institution has held none, that documentation gap is the specific thing to name. Our practical piece on these programs is Programs for Children of Incarcerated Parents and Prison Family Visits.

On distance: the reason a family stops visiting is usually mileage, and mileage is a designation issue, not a parenting issue. 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) directs the Bureau to “place the prisoner in a facility as close as practicable to the prisoner’s primary residence, and to the extent practicable, in a facility within 500 driving miles of that residence,” subject to bed availability, security designation, programmatic needs, medical and mental-health needs, faith-based requests, court recommendations, and other security concerns — and to transfer people closer “even if the prisoner is already in a facility within 500 driving miles.” That is real, and it is also expressly discretionary: the same subsection says “a designation of a place of imprisonment under this subsection is not reviewable by any court.” A nearer-transfer request is worth making and worth documenting; it is not a claim. See Security Designation and Custody Classification.

Keep the other channels alive while you wait. Phone calls, CorrLinks email, and ordinary mail are the day-to-day of a parent-child relationship in custody, and the policy says so: people are “provided opportunities to establish, maintain, and enhance prosocial ties with their families through visitation, letters, email, and telephone” (p. 4).

If you are counsel: parenting programs

Three uses.

Sentencing and placement. 34 U.S.C. § 60541(a)(1)(F) directs the Bureau, as part of the federal prisoner reentry initiative, to “collect information about a prisoner’s family relationships, parental responsibilities, and contacts with children” to help maintain those relationships. Paired with § 3621(b)’s 500-driving-miles provision, that supports a specific, documented judicial recommendation on placement rather than a generic one. Note what § 60541(g) is and is not: it is the elderly-and-terminally-ill home-detention pilot, and its stated scope is fiscal years 2019 through 2023. It is titled “Elderly and family reunification for certain nonviolent offenders pilot program,” but its eligibility definitions are age, offense type, and medical condition — there is no parent-child pilot in it. Do not pitch it as one.

Family circumstances as grounds for relief. The caregiver and family-circumstances route to a sentence reduction is a different body of law and lives on our Caregiver Compassionate Release page. PS 5355.04 is useful there only as evidence of what the Bureau itself says about family ties and recidivism: “Positive family relationships may reduce the likelihood of recidivism” (p. 4).

Termination of parental rights. This is the clock that runs fastest and the one most often missed. PS 5355.04 at p. 9 states it plainly:

If an incarcerated parent has a child in foster care, it is possible that she/he could lose her/his parental rights. Federal child welfare law requires child welfare agencies to initiate Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) if a child is in foster care for 15 out of the most recent 22 months. The child welfare agency can also decide to initiate TPR sooner, if they determine it is in the best interest of the child. Agencies sometimes initiate TPR sooner, if they are unable to get in contact with the child’s parents.

Every system and case is different, but demonstration of contact with the child can be very important. As a result, appropriate staff are encouraged to collaborate with state and federal agencies to assist the inmate with locating and maintaining contact with his/her child. If an inmate provides documentation showing TPR proceedings have begun, staff assist the inmate in the coordination of the proceedings (i.e., arrange a call or obtain institution records).

The Program Statement’s summary of the federal rule is accurate. 42 U.S.C. § 675(5)(E) conditions federal foster-care funding on a state case review system under which, for a child who has been in foster care under the responsibility of the State for 15 of the most recent 22 months, “the State shall file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child’s parents” and concurrently work to identify an adoptive family. The statute carries three exceptions: at the State’s option, where the child is being cared for by a relative; where the State agency has documented in the case plan a compelling reason that filing would not be in the child’s best interests; and where the State has not provided the family the services it deems necessary for the child’s safe return, when reasonable efforts are required. Federal criminal defense is not child-welfare representation, and this is state-court work — but the two clocks run at the same time, and a client with a young child in foster care needs to know that on day one, not in year two. The Program Statement’s operative promise is narrow: staff “assist the inmate in the coordination of the proceedings (i.e., arrange a call or obtain institution records)” once the client produces documentation that proceedings have begun. Produce the documentation.

What changed from PS 5355.03 to 5355.04

PS 5355.04, dated April 14, 2022, rescinded PS 5355.03, Parenting Program Standards (1/20/1995) — PS 5355.04 at p. 1. The Bureau’s own summary of changes is one sentence: “This policy has been extensively updated and expanded to reference child and family services.” That single line understates a twenty-seven-year gap, so here is what the 2022 rewrite actually did.

It moved the program from “parenting” to “children and families.” The 1995 title was Parenting Program Standards. The 2022 title is Parenting, Children, and Families, and the purpose clause now reaches “those who serve as caregivers to inmate families in the community” and “standards for institution events involving children” (p. 1). The Children’s Center, the lobby materials, the diapering area and the inclement-weather rule are all standards about the child’s experience, not the parent’s programming.

It standardized the course. Before, parenting programming was local. Now it is “a standardized four-session course” drawn from the FSA Approved Programs Guide, delivered on a two-phase model, offered quarterly, tracked with “standardized SENTRY codes,” and locked down against local improvisation: “If an institution identifies a need for a parenting program that does not currently exist, the Associate Warden of Programs contacts the WASPB for consultation. Local parenting programs are not offered without prior consultation” (pp. 6–7). One of the stated program objectives is that “[t]he basic parenting program is standardized, allowing for it to operate consistently across institutions and reach the maximum number of inmates” (p. 2).

It wired parenting into the First Step Act. The 1995 statement predates the FSA by twenty-three years. The 2022 statement pulls programming from the FSA Approved Programs Guide (p. 6), directs that “First Step Act funds will be used to cover any other expenses associated with replacing items and maintaining the Children’s Center” (p. 10), notes that “[i]f available, First Step Act appropriated funds are used” for parenting materials (p. 10), and observes that “[v]olunteers are encouraged by the First Step Act” (p. 10).

It created a national owner. The Women and Special Populations Branch now “oversees the agency’s national parenting program and services related to children and families,” approves new program proposals, prepares budget requests, develops staff training, monitors institutional events, and issues “an annual report on parent and family services within the agency” (p. 3). Before 2022 there was no single national desk for this.

It made the staff training mandatory. “All institution staff are required to complete this [Children of Incarcerated Parents] course within one year of the issuance of this policy, or one year of hire, whichever is later. Staff will be provided adequate time to complete the training during duty hours” (p. 4).

It eliminated the institution supplement. “Institution Supplement. None required” (p. 2). That is a real change for a reader: there is no local document to request that fills in the gaps, because national policy is meant to be the whole rule.

Two things the 2022 rewrite did not do, and they matter. It did not create a regulation — parenting remains policy-only in 28 C.F.R. And it did not update its own reference list, which still cites editions that have since been replaced: it lists P5200.07 Female Offender Manual (5/13/2021), now PS 5200.09 (2/19/2025, CN-1 7/31/2025); and P5267.09 Visiting Regulations at a 12/10/2015 date, where the current edition is dated 8/1/2023 (PS 5355.04 at p. 11). The Program Statement itself is current; its bibliography is not.

Where people get stuck accessing parenting programs

Four problems recur. Each has a route, and the route matters more than the complaint.

“My institution has never held a Children’s Day.” This is the most winnable of the four, because the obligation is annual, national, and documented. Start with an Inmate Request to Staff — form BP-A0148, universally called a “cop-out” — to the Special Populations Coordinator (or, if the position is vacant, the Reentry Affairs Coordinator or the Associate Warden of Programs). Ask three things: the date of the institution’s most recent children-and-family event; the documentation showing that at least two community agencies were asked to participate (p. 8); and the date of the next scheduled event. If nothing comes back, the formal ladder is the Administrative Remedy Program — BP-9 to the Warden, BP-10 to the Regional Director, BP-11 to the Office of National Inmate Appeals — under 28 C.F.R. part 542, subpart B. The deadline is short: 28 C.F.R. § 542.14(a) sets “20 calendar days following the date on which the basis for the Request occurred,” subject to an extension “[w]here the inmate demonstrates a valid reason for delay.” BOP publishes BP-A0148 but does not publish the BP-9, BP-10 or BP-11 forms; you get those from your unit team. See Administrative Remedy Program, Request to Staff, and the plain-language Prison Grievances page.

“A disciplinary sanction cut off all contact with my kids.” This is where PS 5355.04 gives you something specific. The policy directs staff to ensure “at least one method of contacting minor children remains available,” and where all methods are removed for a visiting-related infraction, the removing staff member documents that to the unit team for the progress notes (p. 5). The policy also states that people “can appeal to the CEO or Region as outlined in the Program Statement Administrative Remedy Program on a case-by-case basis.” Two tracks run at once here: the sanction itself is challenged through the disciplinary process — see Inmate Discipline Program and Prison Disciplinary Infraction — and the total-cutoff question is challenged as its own issue, naming p. 5 and asking which method remains.

“There is no Children’s Center, or it is empty.” Ask, in writing, whether the institution holds a waiver approved through the Regional Director to the Assistant Director, Reentry Services Division (p. 9). If it does not, quote the contents list and the sanitation requirement from pp. 9–10 and ask when the items will be replaced, noting that the policy identifies First Step Act funds as the source. Families are usually better positioned than the person inside to document this — you are the one who sees the room. Write down the date, what was there, and what was not.

“The parenting class exists but I can never get in.” Enrollment is keyed to the family/parenting need and tracked in SENTRY (p. 6). Ask for three data points on a cop-out: whether you are coded as having the family/parenting need; your position on the wait list; and the date of the next quarterly offering. If phase one has not been offered quarterly, that is the failure to name. Where the underlying problem is really designation, sentence computation, a First Step Act credit calculation, or medical care, the administrative-remedy path is necessary but rarely sufficient on its own; those belong in a consult — see Federal Prison Consulting Services or contact us. Exhaustion also matters if court is ever a possibility: under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), no action may be brought about prison conditions until available administrative remedies are exhausted. “Exhaustion” means completing every level of the internal grievance ladder, on time, before filing.

Related BOP policy on parenting and family contact

The paired information page for families is our general prison-life hub for relatives; the family-facing companion pages that exist today are What Families Should Know About Federal Prison and Inmate Visitation, and both link back here for the rule.

Policies that meet this one directly: Visiting Regulations (PS 5267.09) supplies the definition of family this policy borrows and the Walsh Act monitoring rule; Searching, Detaining or Arresting Visitors (PS 5510.15) governs what a child can carry out of a visiting room; Female Offender Manual (PS 5200.09) carries MINT and the Residential Parenting Program; Female Integrated Treatment (PS 5240.01) is the companion treatment model; Treatment and Care of Inmates With Mental Illness (PS 5310.16) is where family psychoeducation sits clinically; and Marriages of Inmates (PS 5326.05) handles the adjacent family-formation question.

Contact and reentry: Inmate Telephone Regulations and Inmate Phone Calls; Correspondence (PS 5265.14), Write an Inmate and CorrLinks inmate email; Can I Send a Photobook to Prison?; Furloughs (PS 5280.09) and Temporary Release: Furlough Requests for the funeral-and-family-crisis question; Halfway House Placement Procedures (PS 7310.04) and Home Confinement (PS 7320.01), where MINT placements and CTS family therapy actually happen; and Release Preparation Program (PS 5325.09).

First Step Act: First Step Act Time Credits (PS 5410.01) and First Step Act Assessments, Programming, and Incentives (PS 5405.01) are the two pages that answer whether any given program earns credit. Unit Team and Program Review (PS 5321.09) is where the family/parenting need gets discussed at a program review — the policy directs staff to “[d]iscuss family issues with inmates and document this discussion during team meetings” (p. 4). FOIA and Privacy Act Requests is the route when staff will not produce a record. Further reading: Prisoners’ Wives, Girlfriends and Partners and Average Prisoner Receives Two Visits While Incarcerated.

Frequently Asked Questions About Parenting and Family Programs

Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026