Girl Scouts In Prison - Making a Difference
Girl Scouts Behind Bars has come to Colorado. Betrayal, fear and separation often supersede traditional camp themes when Girl Scouts meet in the cafeteria at the Denver Women's Correctional Facility. Laura Squair cried and buried her head in her mother's arms as she contemplated what life must be like behind bars during a biweekly Girl Scout meeting Saturday night. In a household where she is the youngest of six children and the only girl, 12-year-old Laura relishes the minutes she spends with her mom, Katie Squair, even though it's frightening to pass through layers of security fences topped with rolls of razor wire. "It's a very humbling experience," Katie Squair, 52, said as her daughter wept and the two held hands. "I don't want my kids to have Squair is serving two- and three-year prison terms for two theft convictions. The Girl Scouts Mile Hi Council formed the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program in 2000 after the success of a similar program in Maryland, council spokeswoman Rachelle Trujillo said. Girls from five troops participate. For the adult women in the program, meeting with their daughters (ages 5-17) for an hour every two weeks is welcome respite - one that program advocates say improves the mothers' behavior in prison. "As soon as they realize they can have a special relationship with their daughters, they work to keep that," said Capt. Kathleen Arnold, who coordinates the program for the Colorado Department of Corrections. To participate in the meetings with their daughters, prison inmates must be free of "write-ups" for six months, Arnold said. If they get into a fight, they can lose privileges for 90 days. 
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