Get On the Bus, founded by Sister Suzanne Jabro, CSJ, is today a statewide program that takes children and their caregivers or guardians to visit their mothers or fathers in prison. Visits to a parent in prison can help lessen the impact of parental incarceration on the child. Frequently these children experience feelings of abandonment, shame, grief and even guilt. Statistics indicate these children are more likely to experience poverty and family instability, loss of home and school.

For many children who have a parent who is incarcerated, visits are not possible because of the distance and cost of travel, the complicated, the time consuming process to get clearance into the prison and/or the lack of an approved adult to accompany the child.

For many children this may be the first time they have visited their parent since they were incarcerated. The visit provides a positive family interaction and allows children and parents the ability to reconnect after the long separation.

To make these visits possible, Get On The Bus submits the required paperwork to visit, chaperones children who have no adult to accompany them, charters buses for the visit and provides all meals during the travel. For most of the children the visit involves a long bus ride because the prison is a long distance from their home.

Our parish sponsors 1 or 2 buses taking children to visit their parents. Currently Get On The Bus takes children to 11 California State prisons to visit their parents. As part of this ministry we secure cash donations, backpacks, pillows, blankets, teddy bears, games and snacks for each child riding the bus and if necessary, chaperone a child to visit their parent.
 
Contact:
Mary Jo Buettner    (619)246-7925   maryjobuettner@yahoo.com
Patricia Jensen   (916)207-4060    jensentrish1@gmail.com