“What Do We Miss the Most?” – Expert Workshop on Working with Children of Incarcerated Parents
- Pavel X. Rakušan
- Sep 5
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 7
Prague/Světlá nad Sázavou, 5 September 2025 – VOLONTÉ CZECH, o.p.s., in cooperation with the Federation of Children’s Homes of the Czech Republic and the Czech Prison Service, is organizing a professional workshop focused on children whose parents are serving prison sentences.
Why is the workshop being held?
Experience from the daily work of children’s homes, prisons, and child protection services (OSPOD) shows that the system often lacks clear communication between individual institutions. Children with incarcerated parents often face difficulties in accessing their parents, and the support they receive is insufficient. This uncertainty and separation affect their mental well-being and future.
The workshop entitled “What Do We Miss the Most?” aims to create space for finding concrete steps to improve this situation – from more sensitive approaches by staff to systemic solutions.
Workshop program
The workshop will be opened by the prison director Brigadier General Mgr. Monika Myšičková and the Executive Director of VOLONTÉ Ing. Zuzana Bejó. The program will include contributions from, among others:
PaedDr. Jana Koubová, Chairwoman of the Federation of Children’s Homes of the Czech Republic – experiences with children whose parents are incarcerated
Mgr. Štěpán Jílka, Commissioner for Institutional and Protective Education, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports – issues of children in institutional care
Mgr. Jana Machová, Methodologist, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs – the role of OSPOD in working with children of incarcerated parents
PhDr. Alois Daněk, Ph.D., Children’s Home Klánovice – experiences of an educator
Bc. Jiří Kafka, Vysočina Region – the overlap of social work into the prison system
Mgr. Tereza Vodičková, Chairwoman of the Association of Civic Education and Social Science Teachers – why children of incarcerated parents turn to their teachers
Mgr. Šárka Horáková, Social Worker, Světlá nad Sázavou Prison – working with mothers in prison
The program will also include a summary of the issues, joint discussion, and a prison tour.
The organizers reserve the right to change the program.
Registration of participants
The workshop is open to staff from prisons, children’s homes, OSPOD, and other professionals.
REGISTRATION
Participation requires registration through the online form:
Participants who are not employees of the Czech Prison Service must provide their ID card number when registering.
About the project
The workshop is part of the project “VOL Without Invisible Victims” (reg. no. CZ.03.02.02/00/24_066/0004673), supported by the Employment Plus Operational Program, co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus.
VOLONTÉ – The Will to Help
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