MANSFIELD — Nearly 50 Richland Correctional Institute inmates spent the day with their loved ones as part of Day with Dad’s, a reintegration event for the inmates.
“This is a family event we’re having,” said Rebecca Jentes, a case manager at the facility. “We have families coming in with children belonging to our inmates here. We continue to encourage family togetherness.
“Even though they are incarcerated, they can still be dads, and they can still be active parents in their lives.”
The prison put forth a positive atmosphere with games, arts and crafts, freshly grilled hot dogs and trick-or-treating for the children.
“We know from recidivism rates the best thing that can happen to an inmate when they become a restored citizen is they go home to their family. We know that will encourage them to stay in the community and not come back to prison,” Jentes said. “We encourage this because we know that will keep them out.”
The inmates involved had to earn participation for the Day with Dads by having no misconduct on their respective records, Jentes said.
The event, which began in 2010, has been successful enough to be come an annual event.
Rossi’ Azmoun, a warden’s assistant at RiCI agreed the prison is focused on helping inmates become fit to reenter society. He said the Day with Dads can serve as motivation for the inmates through out the year.
“Most of our inmates who are incarcerated are going home. Our hope is for our inmates to become successful, law-abiding citizens,” he said. “To make that happen it’s important to reunify families whenever possible. Not just through visiting but through event such as this.
“Allowing inmates positive, quality time with families benefits good behavior, There’s a lot of benefits to having good behavior and spending time with family is certainly one of them.”
