We are launching the VOL Active Fatherhood project. Because being a father doesn't start at release.

On the first of July 2026, we are launching a new project. It is called VOL Active Fatherhood, and for two years it will address a topic that has long been overlooked in Czech society: what happens to fatherhood when a father is behind bars?

Imprisonment doesn't end at the prison gates

Every year, more than ten thousand people are imprisoned in the Czech Republic. Some of them are fathers — men who have children at home. Children who are waiting for them. Or who gradually stop waiting, because contact slowly fades. Distance, finances, family relationships, formal visiting conditions — all of it stands in the way.

And yet data and experience consistently show: a father who maintains his bond with his family and children returns better after release. He reoffends less. He is less likely to get lost in the system. He takes responsibility — for himself and for those waiting for him.

In the Invisible Walls Kuřim project, which VOLONTÉ ran between 2019 and 2022, we followed 38 fathers for nearly four years. Only a handful reoffended. That is not a coincidence. It is the result of focused, patient work with motivation, competencies, and relationships.

What the VOL Active Fatherhood project is about

The project targets fathers serving custodial sentences who have children under the age of 15. We aim to work with at least 120 of them — individually, with respect for their situation, and with one clear goal: to prepare them for the role of an equal, active parent.

What does that mean in practice?

Every participating father will be assigned a mentor — someone who will accompany him through the entire journey from the first meeting in prison through to the period after release. Together they will draw up an individual development plan. They will identify what the father can already do, what he wants to change, and what he needs.

Alongside this, we offer group workshops focused on communication with children, family law, financial literacy, digital skills, and conflict management. Legal and family counselling. Mediation where relationships are strained. And peer consultants — men who have been through prison themselves and are today actively caring for their children.

The project does not end at release. For fathers transitioning back to freedom and their families, we are opening advisory offices in Prague and Mladá Boleslav. Because the return to family life is the moment that determines everything.

Why this is also a question of equal opportunities

VOL Active Fatherhood is not simply a resocialisation programme. It is part of a long-term effort to change how society views the role of men in childcare.

Caring for children is still widely perceived in the Czech Republic as a naturally female domain. Fathers are breadwinners, not caregivers. This stereotype harms families on both sides. And when a father is serving a prison sentence, it is reinforced even further.

We want to show that things can be different. That a father in prison can be present — through letters, video calls, children's days, preparation for release. That active fatherhood is not a reward for a clean record, but an attitude that can be built even under difficult circumstances.

That is why we are also engaging the wider public. Round tables, school talks, awareness events alongside the annual Yellow Ribbon Run. We want this topic to stop being a taboo.

Who is behind the project

The project is delivered by VOLONTÉ CZECH, o.p.s. — an organisation with more than 30 years of experience working with vulnerable target groups, which has been working with people serving custodial sentences across 31 prisons throughout the Czech Republic for 15 years.

Our implementation team brings together sociologists, mediators, lawyers, mentors, expert guarantors, and peer consultants. We work with the Prison Service, the Probation and Mediation Service, the National Centre for the Family, the Centre for Integration of Children and Youth, the OPOP platform, and others — in total, we have pre-agreed cooperation with more than 20 partners.

The project also includes evaluation — both ongoing and final — so that results can be documented, shared, and built upon.

We start on 1 July 2026

The project will run for 24 months. Its outcomes will include not only 120 supported fathers and their families, but also a publicly available methodology for working with fathers in custody — ready to be used by prison staff, social services, and other organisations across the country.

Because we believe that every father who wants to be present deserves the chance to prove it.

The VOL Active Fatherhood project (reg. no. CZ.03.01.02/00/25_082/0006968) is implemented through the Employment Plus Operational Programme, co-financed by the European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic. The project is co-financed by the European Union.