Letters to the board Help!

[wstld]

I am new to the system and my child needs me to write a letter to the "board" What do I say? How much information and what kind of information? I am lost for words can any one help me?

[missingsteven]

Originally Posted by wstld

I am new to the system and my child needs me to write a letter to the "board" What do I say? How much information and what kind of information? I am lost for words can any one help me?

First let me say welcome to PTO & to this wonderful group. We are happy that you are here and sorry that you had to find us.
I have never had to do this myself either and I am also new to this type of thing but please rest assured that there are many wonderful intelligent women here who will guide you in the direction that you need to be heading in.
God Bless you and I wish you the best outcome in this endeavor.
I can tell that you sound very frustrated and anxious as anyone of us would be at this time. I can also tell you that would not be the best time to write that letter so the first thing you must do is take a deep breath and say a little prayer and ask God for guidance. We will be here for you whenever you need us.

[southernsarah]

Originally Posted by wstld

I am new to the system and my child needs me to write a letter to the "board" What do I say? How much information and what kind of information? I am lost for words can any one help me?

There will be women along shortly who have experience with this but I will throw in my two cents from personal as well as professional experience. At the very least the board wants to know that your son has a strong support system to come home to. They need to know that you will provide him a warm, stable, and legal home to return to (if he will be living with you upon his release)> If not, you might tell them that you are willing to be there to drive him to work and back or rehab and back (if he has no license) and that kind of thing. The Board wants to know that if he runs into tough times emotionally or financially he has people who will be there for him to help him stay on the right path. So I would just write from the heart and tell them that you will provide whatever is needed to help your son re-enter society and do well.
In addition, you are in the best position of everyone to detail the wonderful attributes your son has in spite of his prison sentence.
Was he a boy scout? A great father? A strong role model for a nephew? Was he on the college path before getting arrested? Let them know any and all positive things about his life and motivation before getting incarcerated and assure them that you will be there to help him pick up where he left off.