Video Storytime

This could be such a fantastic program for both the children and the parents. We could potentially partner with <a href="http://www.newhopeoklahoma.org/">New Hope Oklahoma</a> or the state's commission on <a href="https://www.ok.gov/occy/Programs/Children_of_Incarcerated_Parents/">Oklahoma Children of Incarcerated Parents</a>. Child Trends estimated that 5 million U.S. children have had at least one parent imprisoned - about one in every 14 children under 18. For black children, the rate was one in nine. A 2008 Bureau of Justice report estimated that 52% of state inmates and 63% of federal inmates—reported having minor children. This would provide children with a positive environment to visit their parents and engage in educational activities, and hopefully reduce the trauma experienced by children of incarcerated parents.

Fascinating link Tim. Thanks for sharing this great idea.

Most of the ideas that immediately came to mind when I saw this Pilot Projects post were opportunities to expand services to our members. This, I think, does much more: not only does it work toward our broader 'social justice' goals, it gives us a chance to offer a completely new service. It doesn't just do something new for our members or increase interest in the library, it builds a new service around the needs of the community members we hope to reach. Have you thought of any other ways we could use a resource like this? Do you think it would work best as a room exclusively for communication with incarcerated family members, or could it be a multi-use room set up for wireless communication? For instance, could a grandparent use the room to make video calls to out-of-state family?

I am very happy to see this posted here as I was planning to post the same thing. I read a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/nyregion/resurgent-new-york-city-libraries.html?_r=0">New York Times </a> article the other day about all the amazing things that the library systems in NYC are doing and they listed the program from Tim's link. I'd like to provide a little backup to Tim's proposed program. <ul> <li>It’s estimated that over 26,000 children in Oklahoma have an incarcerated parent. - <a href=https://www.ok.gov/occy/documents/CIP%20Taskforce%20Report.pdf>OKGOV</a></li> <li>Most Children of Prisoners Need: <ul><li>Consistent, caring adults who understand that, in general, children love their parents, even when they have committed a crime </li> <li>People who will not condemn the incarcerated parents as worthless </li> <li><strong>A chance to learn and practice skills and keep busy with activities </li> <li><strong>People who can help them to maintain contact with their incarcerated parent or parents </strong>or explain to them why they cannot maintain contact</li> - <a href=http://www.okdhs.org/OKDHS%20Publication%20Library/14-63.pdf#search=14%2D63”> OKDHS </a></ul></li> </ul> We could help them maintain the relationship with their parent, help them learn and practice reading, and provide them with a safe environment to take part in other activities. This would hopefully bring in new members and once they are here and discover what all we offer hopefully keep them coming back for other programs and resources. If we were to move forward with this program I would suggest when reaching out to the DOC recommending Mabel Bassett Correctional Center (MBCC) as a pilot site. MBCC is a female prison just outside of Oklahoma County in Pottawatomie. They are open to outside programs encouraging the women to have relationships with their families. I know they have the Girl Scout’s program <em >Girl Scouts Beyond Bars</em> and they have worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters to have inmates send enrollment forms to their families (I used to work for BBBS and toured the facility back in 2011).