Incarcerated fathers who stay connected with their children are more likely to be successful upon release and their children benefit as well. Click below to hear Staff from the Department of Corrections and Justice Involved Dads share the struggles of keeping fathers connected with their children and what has worked for them. Several currently incarcerated fathers from Stafford Creek Corrections Center and Airway Heights Corrections Center joined us to virtually to share their personal stories.
About Our Presenters
Tera McElravy, Corrections Specialist, Strength in Families Program, Reentry Division, WA State Department of Corrections
Tera is a Corrections Specialist for the Strength in Families program within the Washington State Department of Corrections. She provides education and guidance to releasing incarcerated fathers in an effort to enhance a positive and healthy reconnection with their children and families. The majority of her 23 years with the Department has been spent managing and creating enrichment programs for incarcerated individuals and their families. She has observed firsthand the support opportunities and unique struggles of the incarcerated when trying to return home.
Elaine "Missy" Farr, Corrections Specialist, Strength in Families Program, Reentry Division, WA State Department of Corrections 
Missy is a Corrections Specialist for the Strength in Families (SIF) program within the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC). She manages recruitment for the program and supervises the program’s Case Managers who provide direct support and advocacy for the program’s incarcerated parents and their families. Over Missy’s 24+ years with DOC, she has worked in a variety of roles both within the prison system and in community corrections. Her last 5 years working in the SIF program have inarguably been the most rewarding years of her career thus far as working in SIF has allowed her to try and help be a part of the solution from the inside, out.
Terren Beeman, MSW, LICSWA, SUDP, Parent Navigator, Airway Heights Correctional Center, WA State Department of Corrections
Terren has been working with families involved in the child welfare system since 2014 with the Parents for Parents program as a Parent Ally. He has lived experience as an incarcerated individual and as a Parent in the child welfare system. He has worked in the behavioral health field since 2017 helping individuals with substance use and mental health disorders. He has been with DOC since March 0f 2023 as a Parent Navigator and is currently co-creating the Family Reunification program working with DCYF involved fathers incarcerated at Airway Heights Correctional Center in Spokane, WA.
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