"Keep this feather in the air without touching it."  That's what inmates at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility were told to do, so they wildly chased the feathers around the room, blowing up at them to keep them from hitting the floor.  It seemed like a silly exercise, but it actually had a far greater purpose.  It was an attempt to strengthen ties between incarcerated fathers and their families.

The incarcerated dads who participated in the feather frenzy won prizes for their families who stood right beside them, rooting them on.  These inmates are allowed to play games like this alongside their children because they are part of the Very Involved Parents (VIP) program.  Run by the Family Tree Access Center in Rutland, Vermont, the program enables mothers and children to come into the correctional facility once a week to build relationships with their incarcerated loved ones.

Providing inmates with this type of enhanced visitation is not something that all states are willing to do, however, because of the increased risks that are associated with inmates having close contact with visitors.  Moreover, states are not required to provide enhanced visitation based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling stating that as long as some form of communication is allowed between inmates and those who want to visit with them, correctional institutions may regulate or restrict inmates' visitation privileges without violating their constitutional rights.

In Vermont, however, family bonding during periods of enhanced visitation is considered to be an integral part of helping inmates to rehabilitate and prepare for their transition back into the community.

"The idea here is that we keep the connection for the family," said Laurie Casey, Executive Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the Family Tree Access Center.  "Our belief is that every [incarcerated] individual has something very wonderful to offer their children."

Becoming a Very Involved Parent

Casey began this enhanced visitation program three years ago, with the goal of re-connecting incarcerated parents with the children they left behind.    

"We actually connect the child to their incarcerated parent, but also they have with them their custodial parent or their primary care [giver]," said Casey.  "[This] creates the family unit as it would be if they were on the outside."

Each week, mothers or guardians take children to the Marble Valley facility where they are able to spend about an hour with their incarcerated fathers.  Two members of the Family Tree staff oversee these visits and there are no corrections officers in the room.

"We're allowing [the incarcerated men] to have actual parenting time," Casey said. 

In the visiting room where children, mothers and fathers gather, there are no physical barriers to prevent the families from interacting, Casey pointed out.  Incarcerated fathers can roll around on the floor and wrestle with their children, if space permits, she said.

Some days, however, the visiting room can be crowded, with as many as fifty parents and children gathering together in a group setting before they break up into their individual family units for more private visits, Casey noted.

In the group environment, inmates and children exchange letters that they have written during the week and read some parts of them out loud. 

"They're finding a connection," Casey explained about the fathers and children whose letters talk about favorite colors, favorite foods, shoe sizes and other details that would be common knowledge if the dads were living at home with their kids.

After the group session, inmates, mothers and children find a space in the room where the family can visit together somewhat privately, Casey said.

Two VIP staff members supervise the visits and provide families with activity packs, which include items like markers, crayons, tracers, cloth balls and puppets.

"[The inmates] can say 'I love you' a lot easier from a puppet," Casey said. 

Also, the families receive books during every session.

"Sometimes we'll have children helping dads read and sometimes we'll have dads helping children read," Casey said.

Having this type of contact with their children enables incarcerated fathers to act as parents, Casey explained.  These are roles they may not have fulfilled in the past.

"We're creating connections that possibly weren't there before," Casey said.  "We give them the opportunity to feel the rewards of parenting that they never experienced before."

When fathers at Marble Valley help their children to read a story or win them a prize by finishing a contest, the kids react, Casey explained.

"It gives [the inmates] the opportunity to see their value in their children's eyes," Casey said.  "One of the best things in building self-esteem and self-confidence is public recognition, public acknowledgement."

Allowing Families into Facilities

Corrections staff, too, see the value in permitting inmates to have enhanced access to their families.

"The whole point of visitation is to have some continuity to their lives," said Tom Giffin, Caseworker Supervisor at Marble Valley Regional Facility.  "It's important that they have visual contact [with their families]," Giffin said.  Then they know that they have something waiting for them when they go home, he said.

But there are some concerns associated with allowing mothers and children, from infants to young adults, into a correctional facility.

"There's always risks for everything," Giffin stated, noting that visitors could bring contraband into the facility.  But, Griffin said, the facility has cameras and metal detectors to prevent that from happening and inmates are searched after they meet with their families to make sure they aren't carrying anything back to their cells.  Also, each inmate who participates in the VIP program is required to sign an agreement that they will submit to routine drug-testing, he said.  If they fail a drug test, they are removed from the program, he added.

Casey and other Family Tree staff members understand the nature of the correctional environment and are aware of the potential risks of operating a program like VIP in a secure facility.  To prevent any problems from occurring, they enforce the rules and regulations of the facility upon the program's participants and remove people from VIP if they don't abide by them.

"Everyone is held to the same standards," Casey said.  "There's a dress code," she added, noting that it's not acceptable for mothers or children to wear low-cut clothing or show a lot of skin.  Also, there can be no inappropriate touching between the parents, like excessive kissing.

"Holding hands is OK," Casey said.  "To see your parents show affection to each other is normal," she added.  "We try to make that time normal for [the families]."

If the program participants do not obey the rules, they are removed from VIP, Casey warned.  "That's what keeps the program in the facility."

And Giffin is happy to have it there.

"It's a win-win [situation] all the way around," he said.

Resources

To learn more about the Family Tree Access Center and VIP, contact Laurie Casey at (802) 775-0068