July 14, 2025
San Quentin State Prison brings father and daughters together for its first “Parent Prom.”
A coalition of organizations recently teamed up to host San Quentin State Prison’s first-ever father-daughter dance, where “missed milestones were redeemed.”
A viral video making the rounds on social media captures highlights from the “Parent Prom” at San Quentin State Prison, an emotional event organized by the prison reform advocacy group The People In Blue in collaboration with the faith-based nonprofit God Behind Bars, The Last Mile, Got Light, Angel Cakes, and ACME Floral Co. The prom marked the grand finale of an eight-week workshop led by 18 incarcerated men advocating for prison reform, and it’s receiving widespread praise and support online, KTVU reports.
The heartfelt event marked the culmination of an eight-week family communication workshop created by Tam Nguyen, a San Quentin resident and member of The People in Blue who has been incarcerated for 22 years. The program gave participants a chance to reflect deeply on their roles in their daughters’ lives and to rebuild connections with other family members through honest, introspective work.
For some of the incarcerated fathers, the prom offered them the opportunity to meet their daughters for the first time.
“So I’ve been incarcerated 18 years, and they’re 14 and 12. So I mean, it’s my first time I get to hug them and all that,” one father shared.
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Others hadn’t seen their daughters in more than a decade. According to God Behind Bars, the event’s mission was centered on family restoration.
“For one night, the prison chapel became a place of redemption. A place where missed proms, missed dances, and missed milestones were redeemed,” the organization said. “This wasn’t just a dance. It was a glimpse of what God can do- restoring families, healing hearts, and writing new stories where the world saw brokenness. Watch as fathers and daughters create memories they thought they’d lost, and see what hope looks like behind bars!”
Smiles lit up the room, and happy tears flowed as organizers reflected on just how deeply emotional the event was for everyone involved.
“The entire event was extremely touching and heartening,” said Morgan Hubbard of Friends of the People In Blue. “There was not a dry eye in the house for MOST of the day!!! Lots of happy tears and smiles.”
The event’s recap video has been widely praised online, with many applauding how the father-daughter dance helps humanize incarcerated individuals and supports efforts to reduce recidivism in a country where a large percentage of released prisoners end up rearrested, reconvicted, or re-incarcerated within just a few years.
“This is beautiful. I can get behind this,” one viewer wrote. “We definitely need to think of ways to reduce the recidivism rate, which giving fathers a sense of what they’re missing out on could help do. Worth a try if not for the benefit of the girls alone.”
“Wow, our prison systems need more of this,” added someone else. “We need to rehabilitate to have the people become effective, productive members of our society and not reoffenders when released.”
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