12-Year-Old Girl Creates A Unique App For Children With Incarcerated Parents
It’s always very difficult when a family member becomes incarcerated as there is limited communication. However, things may change as a 12-year-old girl “Jay Jay” Patton, and her father Antoine, an ex-prisoner, developed Photo Patch, a program and mobile app that connects imprisoned parents to their kids.
According to Teen Vogue, Antoine learnt how to code while he was in prison. Upon his release in 2014, he built Photo Patch Foundation, a website where children could write letters and upload photos without unreasonable charges. He then developed a mobile app version for easier and faster access to avoid the ‘slow mail’ system.
“Everybody’s on their phone. It’s way easier for them to take a picture and type a letter right there,” she told Teen Vogue. “My dad said I should try it.”
Photo Patch has gained between 1,000 and 2,000 users since its launch. In fact, its been downloaded 10,000 times. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has got the correctional facilities on lockdown, 75 to 100 communications are sent daily.
“No matter where the child or parent is, they should always have a bond, a connection, and be able to talk to each other,” Jay Jay said. “We know that being able to talk to each other helped our bond a lot. So why not give that same thing for [other] kids and parents?”
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