Thanks to a partnership between the Parenting Resource Center and the Mower County Jail — and the hard work of a Riverland Community College student — 12 inmates, incarcerated in December, were still able to connect with their children in a significant way at Christmas.

Zach Roberts, a Riverland student and intern at the PRC, helped lead the way to initiate the “Read to Me” program with the inmates. By attending three parenting classes through the PRC, inmates were eligible to be video-recorded reading a children’s book. The book, along with the recording, were then sent to the custodial parent or guardian for the child to receive for Christmas.

“I am grateful for this program because it allowed both my son and I to deal better with having to spend the holidays apart for the first time,” wrote one inmate. “He received his video and book the day before Christmas so it was great that he had something to open from me.

“Reading together at bedtime has always been an important ritual for us at home, so even though we are both going through changes, hopefully, when he is missing me he can feel a sense of normalcy when he watches the video and he loves the age-appropriate book he received. Thank you so much.”

Roberts, 28, who served as an intern at the center from June through December, worked with PRC Director Gema Alvarado-Guerrero and Jail Program Coordinator Mary Davidson to initiate the program. Roberts is in his last year of associate degree study in Human Services at Riverland, and first came to the PRC in June when landing a job as a supervision monitor at the Michael C. Seibel Center. The work in his job aligned with his education requirement to earn internship hours.

The PRC provides a whole range of services to parents and has a long partnership with the jail on providing parenting programs to inmates.

Roberts provided lots of work in several projects, but one of the biggest was the Read to Me program, said Alvarado-Gerrero.

“Zach was instrumental in getting the books, putting data together, renting the recording equipment, transferring it to DVD; he really did an amazing job,” she said.

Roberts met with the inmates to determine their desire about what they wanted to read on the video. They were able to exchange their orange jail uniform for a green shirt while reading the book.

“They had a lot of questions,” Roberts said, but added each one of the inmates practiced and “did very well when it came to the recording — really well. It really was something to watch.”

“They were very sensitive to what was needed,” and really wanted to make the video a special gift to their child or children, Roberts added.

Davidson said the reaction from both inmates and children was satisfying.

“The inmates can’t go out and buy Christmas presents,” she said. “So they were very thankful to give this to their children.”

She added that the custodial parent also gave high marks to the program after watching the children enjoy the videos, and how the child would read along with the video.

“It was a great project,” said Davidson, who also praised Roberts’ work.

“Zach was wonderful,” she said. “He worked so well with the inmates.”

Davidson said programs such as Read To Me respond to a need to continue a relationship between an inmate and their children during incarceration. A child may experience issues at home, at school or in the community during that time, Davidson added. Keeping that relationship strong helps the child weather those issues, she said.

A University of Minnesota study, done in March 2017, found there were almost 10,000 children under the age of 18 in Minnesota who had a parent incarcerated in a county jail, Davidson said.

Roberts, an Austin native, is one of 10 who serve as supervision monitors. The center is a subset of the PRC, that provides supervised exchange and visitation services to both custodial and non-custodial parents. Travis Shepherd, who oversees the Michael H. Seibel Center portion of the PRC, continues to work with Roberts, who plans to continue his studies and earn a degree in social work.

“Right away … Zach displayed a willingness to do everything he was asked to do,” Shepherd said. He added that Roberts has the ability to remain calm amid what can be explosive situations. Some parents at visitation might not have seen a child for years.

Alvarado-Guerrero agreed. That type of steadiness, the ability to read situations and diffuse them, is special.

“You can only teach that so far,” she said. “He has all the qualities of a great social worker, whose goal is to make the child feel comfortable and safe.”

Roberts also worked to help land a Mower County Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) grant of $1,611.77 that was awarded to the Seibel Center that was used to update gym equipment and install two new bike racks.

There are reasons, Roberts said, that he wants “to give back.”

His interest in the field comes honestly — his mother, sister and stepbrother are all in some area of social work. His mom, Chris, is the assistant director of Mower County Health and Human Services. His sister is a therapist in Colorado, and his stepbrother is social worker in the Twin Cities.

In the past, he had his own issues with substance abuse and the support he received during his struggles helped him get well.

He wants to support others, he said, as he was. Today, he is married with a child on the way — and he said is grateful that he had the opportunity to pursue his career.

It could have been a different scenario, Roberts added.

“The support of families and friends, and in the community — I was really lucky,” he said.

LEARN MORE

The Read to Me program is made possible locally by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation that provided the books; and the United Way of Mower County, which provides funding for the Parenting Resource Center’s Partnering with Parents Initiative.

For more about the Parenting Resource Center and the

For more information about the PRC and Michael H. Seibel Center, go to: http://www.familiesandcommunities.org/