June 25, 2001
At women's prison, Baptists teach parenting skills
___By Amy Seale
___Buckner News Service
___Christy Robertson had not seen her son since he was three weeks old. She was not there when he took his first step, and she was not able to pick him up when he fell.
___Until the EQUIP Family Day April 7, she never had seen him smile, nor had she everfelt his gentle hug. Until then, Christy Robertson had never known the sound of her son's voice.
A PRISON ceremony recognizes inmates who have successfully completed Buckner's EQUIP program, which focuses on good mothering.
___For the two years since his birth, Robertson has been an inmate at the Hilltop Unit of the Gatesville Women's Prison, where Buckner Child and Family Services runs an EQUIP program. The name is an acronym for Enhancing Quality and Understanding for Incarcerated Parents.
___Through EQUIP, incarcerated women learn the skills to be good mothers.
___Family Day concludes the 12-week program by recognizing inmates' accomplishments and allowing them to share the achievement with their families.
___Implemented in 1996 to nurture relationships between inmates and their children, EQUIP has helped 266 families and has achieved a 91 percent success rate, according to program director Anne Mooney.
___"These women don't know how to be parents," explained Warden Nancy Botkin. "We are here to teach them how to relate to their children, how to discipline their children, how to listen to their children and how to communicate with their children. We are here to teach them how to be parents."
___The goal of EQUIP is to help inmates understand that "when they go home, they need to stay home," Botkin added.
___The inmates are more than prisoners, said Scott Taylor, a Baylor University social work student serving as an intern for EQUIP. "They are mothers. They're sisters. They're wivesand they have friends. They are just like we are."
AT FAMILY DAY, inmates and their children find opportunities to rediscover a mother's touch.
___However, because they are in prison, they have been stereotyped. According to Taylor, their self-esteem is low and they have forgotten they are mothers. "They believe what society says. They believe they are no good. They believe they are worthless.
___"EQUIP helps them say: 'No, I'm a mother. I'm a person. I'm a woman who has a unique purpose in life.'"
___Many inmates claim the program has changed their lives.
___"This program has made me have a great desire to be part of my children's lives," said inmate Christina Johnson, who admits she allowed drugs and criminal activity to come between her and her children. "I realize how important my being there is. I really didn't think they needed me, because they had my mom. Now my outlook has changed."
___For years, Robertson said, she wore a smile in an attempt to keep herself happy. She was quick to give advice and worked to make others feel better, but she never knew what it was to be truly happy.
___"I had been mad at God for a very long time," Robertson explained. "I finally just said, God, if you really are God, show me something.' I longed to see my mother. I longed to see my children. I wanted the relationship back with them."
___Alone in her prison cell, Christy Robertson gave her life to Christ.
___"He tells us that he will give back everything we have lost if we just give our lives to him," Robertson said. "Well, here's my life."
___Within days, letters began to arrive from members of Robertson's family.
___"I got letters saying we want to come see you, we have forgiven you, we're not angry anymore," she recalled. "I got my family back. I got my children back."
___Today, as she holds her son, hugs her 7-year-old daughter, Ruby, and discusses future plans with her 17-year-old daughter, Rachel, Robertson has found a reason to smile.
___Behind the walls of the Hilltop Unit, Robertson has discovered a loving and merciful heavenly Father. She has learned the value of being a mother to her children.
___And she has found the ability to forgive herself.
___Next month, Robertson will go home. With the parenting skills she has learned through the Buckner EQUIP program, she will have the opportunity to be a successful mother.
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