c. 2000 Religion News Service

ST. LOUIS _ As she flipped through three scrap books full of photos of girls in uniform 10-year-old Cynthia couldn’t tell her Girl Scouting stories fast enough. Like any pre-teen she loved the crafts, friends, field trips and especially the camping.

But unlike most girls her age, Cynthia’s field trips with her troop include treks to prison. That’s where she and all the girls visit their mothers.

Troop 196 of the Girl Scout Council of Greater St. Louis is part of the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program. Each of the 47 girls has a mom either in prison or recently released from prison.

The goal of the program, established by the National Institute of Justice in Washington, D.C., is to reduce the trauma of separation due to the mother’s incarceration. Organizers want to help preserve the mother-daughter relationship, reduce the risk that the daughters will follow in their mothers’ footsteps and give the moms a chance to share positive experiences with their daughters.

“My mom was so happy when she got us into the program,” Cynthia said. Her mother’s been in and out of jail since Cynthia was 2 months old. Cynthia lives with a guardian, a friend of her mother’s, and has been in Girl Scouts since she was 6.

There are 319 Girl Scout Councils in the country and 22 of them have developed initiatives to serve daughters of incarcerated women. The program is open to girls ages 6-11.

“We have a commitment to reach all girls through our program,” said Kathy Dabrowski, assistant executive director with the Council in St. Louis. “We want to find a way for these girls in particular who’ve suffered a lot because they’ve lost their mothers,” she said.

The Girl Scouts wanted to protect the identity of the members of their troop, so Cynthia picked an alias for this article; “Cynthia” sounds very grown up and it makes her smile. She chose the name “Constance” for her mother.

Constance acknowledged she’s a career criminal. She’s been in and out of jail and prison since she was a juvenile, caught repeatedly for stealing to support a drug habit.

“I didn’t have anybody to show me the way. Growing up I had to fend for myself. When I was (Cynthia’s) age I was stealing,” Constance said. “That was a real fear of mine for her because she had my genes,” she said. She believes Girl Scouts provided a necessary alternative and positive model.

“They’ve been her backbone,” she said.

Troop 196 meets weekly during the school year. Every other week they meet at a local Presbyterian Church and learn typical scouting practices.

“It has been a joy to see these girls happy because of the sense of belonging they receive from the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program,” said Caroline Page, Clerk of Session at the church.

When they don’t meet at church they board a bus for the hour-and-a-half trip from St. Louis to the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia, Mo. More than 30 volunteers juggle the logistics. The two-hour meetings with their moms often include crafts, ceremonies and badge work, but mostly visiting time.

“A mother’s love is special,” Cynthia said. “Whenever I go there we talk about something new like school, secrets or hair,” she said. “My mom just knows more about these things. We’re both women and we know how each other feels.”

“The time is never enough, but it gets you to the part where you need to be, in your child’s heart and mind. It’s enough to make you realize you have a special bond that can’t be broken,” Constance said.

There’s no stigma or shame in this troop, just support.

“We don’t talk to them about the reasons why their mothers are there and we don’t have information about the duration of their sentences,” Dabrowski said.

The program is not only a good model for the girls; the inmates also benefit from the positive influence. Constance said the troop leaders never made her feel ashamed.

“Their concern was always for the child,” she said. “I need to wake up and see that’s where my main concern needs to be.”

The girls openly talk with one another about their mothers and related issues like release dates. “At school, they don’t know,” Cynthia explained.

“Their mothers aren’t in prison.”

Girl Scouts Beyond Bars is expensive. The girls need a bus every other week for the trip to the prison and most of the girls live with guardians who have transportation problems or who work when the girls meet. The Council pays for each of the 47 girls to take a cab to and from the church. It relies on grants from organizations like the United Way for other funding.

The girls do their part with cookie sales; they sold 3,500 boxes last year, 400 sold by their moms in prison. Cynthia was one of the top sellers.

Cynthia takes her Girl Scout Promise seriously. “On my honor, I will try: to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout law,” the promise reads.

She said she enjoys the troops’ visits to nursing homes where they visit and work with the seniors. “It teaches me to help others and respect myself, to do the best and be the best; to make the world a better place,” Cynthia said.

“I just can’t believe I have such a bright child like that in the Girl Scouts,” Constance said. “They’ve instilled that in her. She has a great deal of respect. I don’t know any way to show my gratitude except to be a better person.”

DEA END WICAI