'Like a dad again': Playgroup connects jailed fathers with their children

A joint initiative of the ACT Corrective Services and non-profit Shine for Kids, the program Stay Together, Play Together aims to get fathers more involved in their child's life ahead of their release by replicating a community playgroup.

The playgroup has been running in the ACT for six months and is the first to be offered to fathers in custody through the non-profit.

The organisation has also partnered with Yeddung Mura Aboriginal Corporation to provide live music as well as "culturally appropriate resources and activities" for the playgroup.

Corrections and Justice Health Minister Emma Davidson said programs like this were about connecting families and ensuring children has positive relationships with their parents.

"It's very important for the parent to know that they can still be a parent, that their child still knows that they feel loved, and that they are being thought about even when they're not physically in the same place as each other," she said.

Furthermore, she said the program was also about improving outcomes for fathers in custody.

A review conducted by Lord Farmer, a former treasurer of the UK Conservative Party, found that prisoners who received visits were 39 per cent less likely to reoffend.

Shine for Kids chief executive Julie Hourigan said children were "a great motivator to get out and stay out".

"We want to break those intergenerational cycles of offending and harm and so working with these dads when they have very young children can set them up for every success to not reoffend on release."

Ms Hourigan said currently 10 fathers "sustainably" attended the playground every week but she expected that number to grow.

"We've got waiting lists of dads who want to get in. We've just got to have the security checks catch up with the demand," she said

Ms Hourigan said the program had strict security clearance and eligibility rules that ensured there were no legal, social or safety issues around the dads having access to their children.

"We start with looking at the nature of the offense for a dad being inside and if there are any offenses against their children or other children that would have been flagged as a high-risk offender, they would be automatically excluded," she said.

She added that the child's primary carer was also consulted before they participate in the program.

So far the program has been a success, Ms Hourigan said.

A program facilitator shared a story from one playgroup, where a toddler fell asleep on a dad's shoulder, with the dad stating: "I can hear his heartbeat - I feel like a dad again".