Jennifer Gross- Director of family services
Mrs. Gross is the wife of ex-New York State
District Court who is currently serving a thirty-three month
sentence for money laundering.
She is also the proud mother of 11-year-old Alexander and
10-year-old Roxane.
Her real life experiences surrounding her husband’s
incarceration can help you prepare for your spouse’s incarceration.
Jennifer helps families to cope with the loss of a loved
one and the family dynamics of incarceration. There are over 2.5 million
Americans--men and women--incarcerated in our nation's prisons and jails, yet
to hear us talk about it to each other you'd think that almost none of them had
a family or loving friend.
It's almost like they disappeared off the earth. Here's
how you can help those "invisible" loved ones. Chances are they are
someone you already know.
This is just a partial list of the topics we
include:
1. Preparing children for parent's
incarceration
2. Preparing children’s schools
3. Financial Issues
4. Health Issues
5. Psychological Issues
6. Informing family/friends of
incarceration
7. Dealing with the media
8. Dealing with the FBI
9. Dealing with attorneys
10. Dealing with law enforcement
11. How to make your spouse’s time in prison easier
for them
12. How to communicate effectively before they go
to jail
13. How to communicate with them while they are in
jail
14. How to visit with them in prison
15. Behavior of spouse and children while visiting
incarcerated spouse
16. How to treat the prison officers in the
visiting room of the prison
17. How to treat other inmates and their families
while visiting in the prison
18. How to communicate effectively in three minutes
or less on the telephone daily
19. What not to say on the phone
20. What not to write in an email
21. What not to mail
22. What not to tell your spouse while they are
incarcerated
23. How to maintain a relationship with someone who
is incarcerated
24. How to help children maintain a relationship
with parent who is incarcerated
25. How to help incarcerated parent maintain
parental roles while incarcerated
26. How to make the time pass quickly for
parents/children during incarceration
27. (Games to play…)
28. How to quickly get your spouse money while in
jail for the commissary
29. How much money does your spouse need in jail?
30. What not to bring into a jail visit
31. Things to mail to your spouse to help them pass
time..ie magazine subscriptions, (Save my coke rewards or American express or
mileage points and send them to them for free!), newspaper subscriptions, etc.
32. Where to go for free stuff while trying to
conserve money while spouse is incarcerated (i.e. coupons on line for
everything! Craigslist free section)
33. How to barter with local merchants for things
you need