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‘Something to live for': Wis. jail reading program helps keep incarcerated parents connected to their kids

“Making Reading Memories,” a Racine County Extension program, is intended to connect children with parents who are incarcerated and improve children’s literacy skills

child reaching for hand behind jail bars

DALL-E

By Ryan Patterson
The Journal Times, Racine, Wis.

RACINE COUNTY, Wis. — When Jovantae Phifer came home, his children told him they loved the recordings.

On video, Phifer read a book to each of his four kids and explained the books’ lessons.

“It was a beautiful thing to have that feeling and to know that they enjoyed it,” Phifer said. “It just gave me a good, positive feeling.”

Phifer is one of many people who have participated in “Making Reading Memories,” a Racine County Extension program that has operated at area correctional facilities since 2018.

Under the direction of Pam Wedig-Kirsch, Racine County Extension school readiness and family resiliency educator, the program is intended to connect children with parents who are incarcerated and improve children’s literacy skills.

“I think most people as parents question, ‘Am I doing this right? Is this the best thing for my child?’” Wedig-Kirsch said. “Parents who are incarcerated are no different ... (This) gives them that knowledge: ‘I am doing things right, I am working to stay connected, I’m staying involved in any way I can.’”

Giving parents a voice

“Making Reading Memories” is one of several The Literacy Link initiatives aimed at addressing relationships between incarcerated parents and their children. Depending on the relationship, the programs can create, maintain or grow their connections.

The Literacy Link is a statewide University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension project that includes “Making Reading Memories” and parenting workshops. It also aims to improve welcoming areas and visitation spaces at correctional facilities by adding toys and books for children’s visits.

The Literacy Link’s funders include Roots & Wings Foundation, Blocks for Books and First Book Marketplace.

Ronda Davis, justice-involved families state outreach specialist at Extension, said The Literacy Link programs provide parents with the chance to impact their families while behind bars.

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“They still have a voice,” Davis said. “It looks different to parent from a distance, but you’re still a parent.”

The Racine County Extension programs are mainly funded by Racine County and United Way of Racine County, in addition to The Literacy Link.

Jessica Safransky Schacht, UWRC chief operating officer, said the nonprofit has provided annual funding because Racine County Extension is an organized, data-driven entity that excels at identifying barriers to access and responding to community needs.

‘Something to live for’

Wedig-Kirsch works with people at the Racine Youthful Offender Correctional Facility and Racine Correctional Institution on “Making Reading Memories.”

There is a screening process for incarcerated parents in the voluntary program, both by correctional facilities and Extension, and Wedig-Kirsch receives caregiver approval.

“We want to be absolutely sure that this is in the best interest of the child, the parent, the caregiver,” Wedig-Kirsch said.

Caregivers are adults taking care of children who have an incarcerated parent.

Parents in “Making Reading Memories” read books on video. The videos and books are sent home to children, along with information for caregivers about how to prepare children to watch the videos.

During in-person visits, parents can read books to their kids, who take the books home.

Videos are mainly for children ages 10 and under, and most last a few minutes.

Some parents read works like “The I Love You Book” or “You Are Enough” to affirm their affection for their children.

Other options include “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “Cool Cuts,” which is about hairstyles for Black boys.

The videos might be the first time children see their parents or the only recording of a parent a child has.

Wedig-Kirsch said some children watch the videos every night, and some sleep with the books that parents read to them.

The programs can provide hope and a sense of purpose for parents incarcerated.

“It strengthens the family unit,” Davis said. “It gives individuals something to live for ... It gives them a sense of agency, that sense of responsibility and accountability for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.”

That was true for Phifer, who was engaged during the daily two-hour Extension sessions while incarcerated for a few weeks at the Racine County Jail , 717 Wisconsin Ave.

Time flew by during the lessons, which made incarceration easier to handle.

Phifer often reads to his kids and felt fine doing so on video.

He wanted to remain productive while in jail and show his children he cared during a challenging time.

“You know when you do something good and it gives you that sense of accomplishment?” Phifer said. “It made me feel like I was doing something. That’s what I needed.”

‘Wonderful way to stay connected’

Wedig-Kirsch records videos every other month at RYOCF, where she mainly works with about 10 parents. She also records videos once per year at RCI, 2019 Wisconsin St. , Sturtevant.

She had been recording videos monthly at the Racine County Jail, but that is on hold because of jail staff capacity, according to Wedig-Kirsch.

“Making Reading Memories” parents greet their children to start the videos and often end them with, “I love you, and I miss you.”

Readings can be emotional, and sometimes the video is paused while parents collect themselves.

“Knowing the situation of the parent and the beautiful message that was sent and all the trauma that they’ve gone through, and yet they can provide their child with this beautiful message, it’s just incredibly moving,” Wedig-Kirsch said. “I’ve gotten teary on more than one occasion.”

Parents are encouraged to be demonstrative while reading, such as using different voices for characters.

When “Making Reading Memories” began in Racine County, Corey Prince, Community Consulting owner, created a sample video by reading “Jabari Jumps” to his son.

Prince said the program is “a wonderful way to stay connected.”

Wisconsin in 2021 had the highest Black incarceration rate in the country at 2,104 inmates per 100,000 people, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

Black Wisconsinites were imprisoned in 2021 at about 12 times the rate of white Wisconsinites, the third-largest gap among U.S. states.

Prince said it is especially important for Black fathers to have the chance to provide discipline, be positive male role models to their kids and be reinstated “into the family structure, into the Black community structure, into the Black hierarchy structure.”

Parenting lessons

For about two years, Davis was the education coordinator at RYOCF, 1501 Albert St.

In that role, she attended a two-hour “daddy-children special visit” that an incarcerated father had in-person with his children.

Davis fought back tears a few times during the visit as she watched the father use parenting lessons he learned and have fun with his two kids under age 3.

At one point, the father’s son happily ran toward him yelling, “Daddy!”

“That got right at (the father’s) heartstring,” Davis said. “He was able to, for a moment, escape that space of not having to worry about security, not having to worry about how others viewed him, but he was just able to be a dad in that moment. That was so special, such an amazing opportunity.”

Terivia Tyler said those types of extended visits can help parents and kids.

“If I can get a physical hug from you, and you can get a physical hug, and that child can feel that love, it matters,” Tyler said. “What a bond to build.”

Tyler took part in a program similar to “Making Reading Memories” about a decade ago while incarcerated at the Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional Center in Union Grove.

Instead of video, the program involved audio of Tyler reading a book to her kids, which she said connected her with her children when she couldn’t physically be there for them.

Maintaining relationships

Wedig-Kirsch said incarceration is often a “shared sentence,” meaning it affects an entire family, especially children.

In Wisconsin, about 88,000 kids have experienced separation from a parent who lived in the home and became incarcerated, according to a 2016 report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

When a parent is incarcerated, children’s lives are “turned upside-down, so any way we can maintain that relationship is really important,” Wedig-Kirsch said.

It can be hard to explain to young children why their parent is away, and The Literacy Link programs can play a role in that process, according to Lindsay Weymouth Olson , Extension family engagement and relationships program manager.

Sarah Bostic said the programs can help make up for time away from parents.

“The people that are left behind still suffer,” Bostic said. “For a child ... it could mean the difference between keeping a relationship fresh and alive and allowing a relationship to die because of non-contact.”

Bostic’s mother participated in “Making Reading Memories” several years ago when she was at the Racine County Jail by reading “The Kissing Hand” via video to Bostic’s daughter.

Bostic said the program can also “foster the love of reading” among children, for whom books can be “a means of positive escape.”

Literacy is an escape for Tyler, who often read with her kids when they were young.

Reading allows one to “go into somebody else’s world,” Tyler said. “It absolutely just captures your mind and can take you somewhere else out of your reality.”

Misconceptions

Wedig-Kirsch said families who participate in The Literacy Link programming are resilient and support each other through highly difficult situations.

Phifer said the parenting classes made him a more patient, empathetic father.

Several people said there is a misconception that incarcerated people particularly need a parenting workshop, when that is true of all parents.

“Everybody could use a little help caring for the little people in their lives,” Safransky Schacht said.

Phifer said many people have preconceived notions that people in jail or prison are solely bad.

What Phifer did to end up in jail “did not reflect who I was,” he said. “You just never know. That’s why you reach out, you speak, you ask questions, or you just mind your business.”

Safransky Schacht said people are more than a mistake that resulted in them being incarcerated.

“Seeing their humanity and treating them with dignity, and giving people the opportunity to do right by their children and by their families, is really important,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for people to start to make amends and to do positive things so that they are not solely defined by a particular incident in their lives.”

‘One component of many’

The Literacy Link has offerings in 13 Wisconsin counties, according to Davis.

Everyone interviewed hopes the programs expand.

“Who doesn’t want to give people the opportunity to be a good parent, show their child how important reading is and how important a connection with them is?” Safransky Schacht said.

Challenges to expansion include funding and facility restrictions.

For incarcerated parents, Weymouth Olson said the programs offer “new tools for their toolkit and help them reengage with their families.”

Davis agreed and said programs can also ideally assist parents once they leave correctional facilities.

“If individuals are coming back into communities, how do we want them to come back?” Davis said. “Do we want folks to come feeling supported, having made connections with their families? We are relational beings, and so we want to help individuals maintain and sustain strong relationships. This is one component of many that is important to the reentry journey.”

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