How to Order a Birth Certificate for a Fiancé in Prison

Prisoners are very limited to what they can do when on the inside in order to obtain personal items, money and documents and may need help from friends and family. Trying to get their birth record certificate usually involves phone and internet research, which is difficult to access when on the inside. You as a fiancé, friend or family member are able to petition for a birth record on behalf of a prisoner through your local vital statistics office in state of birth. The process is not hard as there are specific guidelines for making a petition, your petition can be stopped and possibly returned, if not submitted properly. Let’s take a look at the steps for requesting a Birth Record Certificate for a prison fiancé or inmate.

Steps for Requesting an Inmate Birth Certificate

Step 1 – Determine the location of the office of vital statistics where you need to obtain the birth record. You can check with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to help with finding which vital statistics office you need to contact.

Step 2 – Communicate by visiting the website or your local vital statistics office or for the guidelines on requesting the birth record. The information that required, includes: full name – first, middle and last, parent’s names – make sure to also obtain mother’s maiden name, date of birth, hospital name, and birth city.

Step 3 – Make a letter explaining your request. Most times because you are making the request for the birth record on behalf of your fiancé, a friend or family member that is in prison, make sure to include your relation to that person, explaining that this person is not able to request this info for themselves.

Step 4 – Send out your letter making sure to state your request, including all necessary information. Make sure to also include any fee, current address and phone number contact information. Depending on the distance from the vital statistics office, you should be able to get this information in person.

Step 5 – Send the birth record to the fiancé, friend or family member in prison once received. Make sure not to break any prison rules for sending this information to the prisoner. You can find those rules on the specific prison location for where the prisoner is at.

Warnings & Tips

If the inmate who requested from you the birth certificate will not need the original birth record, send a Xerox copy of the original record. Many prisoners stay in shared cells with another inmate, so belongings can be removed or stolen. It is safer to lose the copy then have to lose the original and go through the process all over again.

Make to ask for an original copy from the vital statistics office, some offices will only send an abbreviated copy, unless otherwise requested.

If you're a prisoner's fiance, it takes a lot of outside support to keep you strong for the man you love. Check out some of these Renee Patterson ebooks. They were written by a prisoner's daughter and prisoner's fiance who understands the value of prison love.

Guest Blog Posts Wanted

In an effort to provide more quality content for this blog, I'm seeking guest blog posts from prison wives, prison fiances and prison girlfriends. If you're a prison husband or prison boyfriend, I'd like to hear from you too!

Posts can be about your relationship, obstacles you deal with as a prisoner lover, prison related articles or current events, just about anything related to prisons and prison life as a prison loved one.

Be a Guest Blog Poster

I will be posting more details soon. But, in the meantime, if you're interested, post a comment here with the following information:

1. Your prison title: wife, husband, fiance, boyfriend, girlfriend...
2. How long you've held that title.
3. The state(s) where you and your prison loved one are located.
4. How often you can post 250-600 word blog posts.

Other Prison Loved Ones

This position is only for prison lovers. If you'd like to provide guest posts as a child (prison daughter, prison son, prison step-child) of a loved one, please visit the Prisoner's Daughter blog. This blog is seeking guest posts as well.

If you'd like to provide guest posts as any other prison loved one (prison mother, prison father, prison sister, prison brother, prison uncle, prison aunt, prison cousin, etc...) or a prison advocate or company that sells prison related products or services, please visit the Prison Rideshare Network blog.

My True Prison Love Story

My true story has been published in an ebook. It was written by Renee Patterson, who did a wonderful job of telling my story exactly how I wanted it told. It you're interested in reading my true life prion love story, you can download the ebook "Another Sappy Love Story - Full Circle Prison Love" for the full story for Amazon Kindle or Barnes and Noble Nook. The shorter version, "Another Sappy Love Story - The Beginning" is free on Amazon for the rest of this weekend. Download it now and tell me what you think.

CA Prisoners Started Being Transferred to CA County Jails

CA Prison Transfers Started Monday

Last Monday, October 3^rd, CDCR began transferring California state prisoners to California county jails across the state. Prisoners who were transferred, were sent to county jail facilities local to their home towns. Upon release, they will be released to the custody of local county probation officers. This is a far cry from being released to CA state parole officers.

CA Prison Realignment

These transfers are part of a plan put into place by California State Governor Jerry Brown, in an effort to reduce the CA prison population by 11,000 inmates by January. This plan is just the beginning of a complete plan to “realign the criminal justice system”, as ordered by the US Supreme Court last spring. This phase of the realignment only refers to the following California state prisoners:

• Considered low-level prisoners
• Convicted of non-violent offenses
• Convicted of non-sex-related offenses
• No history of spousal abuse convictions
• No convictions of any type of crimes against children

CA Prison Rumors

My fiance tells me that there are plans being made to turn some prisons into California pre-release prisons. The purpose of pre-release prisons is to help prisoners that are soon to be released transition back into society. According to him, prisoners from Southern California will be transferred to Lancaster and Chino. I completely forget where those from Northern California will be going.

Realignment - Phase 2

I guess this would be considered the 2^nd phase of the plan. Prisoners sent to pre-release prisons will spend a certain amount of time there, as a low-level offenders. These are the prisons they will be released from when their time comes.

Coming Soon

I cannot wait until one of these phases finally trickles over into our lives. My Boo fits the criteria for the low-level early release programs. At some point, I expect to get a call from him saying that he has been transferred to Lancaster, which is where I'm moving next month, or Chino, less than 40 miles from Los Angeles.

In the meantime, every single morning, I check the CDCR Inmate Locator to make sure he is still in Avenal State Prison. The day I see anything different, will be one of the happiest days of my life. It will mean that he is official IN the CA Prison Early Release Program, and he will be coming home soon.

More Information

Want more details on this phase of the CA Prison Realignment Reform. Read California Prisoners Started Moving to County Jails.

Check out my favorite blogs:

http://prisonersdaughter.blogspot.com

http://reneepattersonwrites.blogspot.com

http://kieshajoseph.blogspot.com

It May be Sooner Than We Thought

My boo just may be getting closer to home even sooner than we both thought. CDCR is set to begin releasing state prison inmates to the custody of our county jail systems on October , 2011. That's on 12 more days from now!

This new process is supposed to help with the CA prison overcrowding problem that the federal government ruled must be cleaned up in the next two years. This "shifting of the guards" action only affects low-level prisoners doing time for low-level offenses that are in no way sex-related or child-related.

As a prison fiance, this could have a great impact on my future, especially since my prison husband-to-be is classified as a low-level prisoner:

1. The love of my life could be released to an LA county jail facility as early as 12 days from now.
2. For me, him being in the county jail means a much shorter traveling distance to visit him on the weekends.
3. For him, being in the county jail system means he may be released from prison much sooner than we thought due to the LA county jail system's overcrowded conditions.
4. If by some slim chance, he were to make a very simple, low-level mistake later, he would be sentenced to a short time in a CA county jail on a probation violation, instead of being sent back to a CA prison for a parole violation.

I would like to say that I pray that he gets out as early as the 1st. But, I don't. I actually pray that God keeps him safe and sane until whatever date He feels should be the true release date. But, I do have hope, though. This new CA prison news gives me hope that no matter when my boo is released, there's a large possibility that he won't have to be released as a CA state parolee. That's every ex-offenders nightmare.

Want to know more about these upcoming changes? Read "CDCR Changes for Low-Level Prisoners" at the Prison Rideshare Network Blog now.

The Social Effects of Having Loved Ones in Prison

Life has its highs and lows. There are things that chance into our lives that we never bargained for from the outset. A typical example could be having a flat tire while running to make it to a job interview on time. But, if for any reason, one finds his freedom confined within the walls of a prison, the effects are really devastating. 

It is really sad that one’s freedom can be taken away from him for one or more reasons. Honestly, I am not trying to stand for or against the legal system that upholds jail sentences. But, I am trying to x-ray the effects of such a sentence on a person with regard to his family members and friends. I think that is where it really hurts. 

 

Now, there are many prisoners who probably left behind their wives and kids. Even if the wife of a prisoner has the inner strength to stay without the man, what about the raising of their kids? Raising children is never meant for a single parent. The challenges involved are enormous. Sometimes, the kids end up in foster homes. Yes, it is true that these kids can receive proper nurturing in such environments, but that of his parents can never be equaled by any other. 

 

Statistics reveal that most children who end up gangsters and prostitutes are traced to dysfunctional homes. There is the role of a parent, even though he may not be morally perfect, that the child needs. The fact that dad is around has a way of shaping the life of kids. A recent documentary by CNN titled; “American Al-Qaida”, tells the story of how a young American lad joined the Al-Qaida network after mom and dad separated. The picture is no different when mom or dad is confined within prison walls. They are separated, and the frustration gets deeper and lethal.

In addition, friends of prisoners suffer a lot, too. In a friendship, everyone brings something to the table. Friendship is like parts of our body. Each differs from the other, but in all, they are best of friends with a single purpose. Once a finger is bad it could affect even the head. So, when someone is imprisoned, his friends suffer. They are denied the warmth and fellowship of a noble friend. For some prisoners who had pen-friends before the jail sentence, imagine the endless letters going out without a single reply coming in. Worse still, if the prisoner was addicted to social sites, such as Facebook, it will hit his friends hard on the network as they keep sending messages and postings without any replies or “likes.” 

 

Such is what people go through just for one man in jail. He is not the only one bearing the burden. In fact, some families bear more than the prisoner does. It is really a breaking time for friends and family members who have someone spending a while behind bars. And the heater turns on during birthdays of their loved ones in prison. Friends and relations would love to gather and celebrate with him. But such can only exist in the realm of wishful thinking. Being in prison is a hard knock on both sides. But courage and faith surely conquer.

By Renee Patterson

http://reneepattersonwrites.blogspot.com

My Life is NOT Depressing

I finally saw my boo yesterday. It had been almost two months. I had some medical problems that had me on crutches. But, the crutches were by choice, not subscribed by a doctor. Because of that, I was unable to take the crutches into the prison. So, I had to wait until I was better to visit.

I guess that's why, for the first time, I cried when it was time to leave. I didn't even cry the first time I visited. But, this time was different. I missed him so much. I had never gone over three weeks without visiting him. It had been two whole months.

After our ritualistic game of scrabble, (I beat, as usual), we just sat for awhile. We enjoyed just holding hands and the stillness. Yes, stillness. There's a stillness that is creating by most prison couples in love at some point in a visit. It comes at a moment when you realize that the time to leave is within the hour.

That moment of stillness is created by couples who have a very high intimacy level between them. It gives them the power of shutting out the rest of the world. At that moment, you are the only two people in the room, in the world. It's not a sexual moment, in anyway. It's an intimate moment where your hearts start to beat together, you can hear each others' breaths, and that small physical gesture (something as simple as holding hands) is your greatest pleasure at that moment. You just look into each others' eyes, and let them do the talking. And, trust me, during those moments of stillness, your eyes can say it all.

Our moment of stillness lasted a very long time yesterday. It was finally interrupted by guard I like to call Richard Rimirez (He's my fave, in spite of the ugly nickname.). Our visit was over. Time to go. It took all I had not to cry like a baby. Maybe had I been watching the clock, like any other time, I wouldn't have been caught off guard. But, he interrupted our moment. And, that made me sad. So, I cried (but not like a baby. lol.).

Someone asked me the other day if this ever gets depressing. I told him no. But, thinking about yesterday, I had to revisit that question. I must say no again. I love this man. We have a connection that is unbreakable. Our bond has lasted for over 20 years. Do certain aspects of being in love with a prisoner make me sad or even frustrated sometimes? Of course. I'd be lying if I said no. But, is it depressing? Impossible.

This is the life I was given. I have to make the best of it. I actually like my life because I like who it made me out to be. Because, I like me. So, no, it's not depressing simply because I have been lucky enough to find a great best friend, who ended up being the love of my life. I have found my soulmate. He is my happiness.

Thanks for listening.
The Prisoner's Fiance

Don't forget to check out the update to my blog dedicated to being "The Prisoner's Daughter"!