Campus Connection

UWL students gain firsthand experience supporting fathers in New Lisbon Correctional Facility

One community partnership UW-La Crosse fosters may be unexpected, but proves to be one of the most impactful, hand-on experiences in students’ college careers. 

UWL has partnered with the New Lisbon Correctional Institution since 2010, bringing students into the institution for tours and educating about the correctional process. 

“There’s incredible value in our future leaders being introduced to corrections in a realistic way,” says Tim Thomas, Warden of the New Lisbon Correctional Institution (NLCI). “Corrections is about working with people. It’s about rehabilitation.”

After multiple weeks of researching the experience of incarcerated individuals, specifically focusing on parenthood and prison programming, students in Nicholas Bakken’s Corrections and Penology course (SOC 323), part of the Community Engaged Learning (CEL) program, traveled to the NLCI for a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience. 

On their first trip to the NLCI, students helped incarcerated fathers record an audiobook for their children on the outside. The program allowed fathers to gift the physical book, “Under the Same Moon,” along with the recording so their children could follow along. 

The fathers were grateful to be able to give a physical, meaningful gift to their children. Multiple fathers expressed feeling lucky to have been selected for the program, and that the gift is allowing them to provide more for their children than most dads in their same circumstances. 

Once they finished recording, students interviewed the men to further understand their experiences of fatherhood while incarcerated. 

“Interviewing the incarcerated fathers was one of the most unique experiences I could've had in college,” says student Katie Last, a senior majoring in sociology. “It's challenging for many incarcerated parents to send their children gifts due to financial issues and access to materials, so this project allowed these fathers to have something meaningful to be gifted to their kids. It was such a fantastic experience to be a part of that and help bring these fathers and their children closer together.”

Last and her group recognized the impact the project had on the father they worked with and others who participated in the partnership program. So when Bakken’s class was tasked with creating a program for reintegrating and reuniting fathers with their children, Last’s group had a great foundation of information with which to work. 

“My group and I created a program that aims to allow incarcerated fathers to connect with their children more consistently by creating handmade crafts to send as gifts and finding a group of individuals going through similar struggles,” Last explains. 

Bakken shared his students’ program ideas with the NLCI staff, and Last’s group’s program was chosen to be implemented in the institution. 

“All six of the programs we were shown were amazing,” says Melanie Harper, program supervisor at NLCI. “We could tell that what they learned was translated into these projects, and it’s evident they know what they’re talking about and understand what we do at NLCI.” 

Bakken’s class went back to the NLCI in December to support Last’s group as they presented to the NLCI staff, tour the facility and participate in a panel with five people in NLCI care. 

“Presenting to the prison staff was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience as a student,” Last says. “Knowing that the program my group and I put together will be implemented alongside other parenting programs at NLCI is such an honor and knowing that this could help many fathers is so fulfilling. The staff were very excited about the program and provided their opinions from an institutional perspective, which was also very insightful for us as students.” 

One of the most eye-opening parts of the trip is touring the facility. With media and stereotypes about prison, it may seem, at first, like an intimidating experience. 

“Once my group and I got into our interview, we got to see firsthand how wrong it is to assume the worst about every single person who is incarcerated,” Last says. “These people are human. Just as humans can make grave mistakes, people can also make miraculous changes; we, as a society, just must give them the chance to do so.” 

Like most students in Bakken’s class, Last’s perspective on the correctional system and incarcerated individuals has significantly evolved over the semester — even making them consider the correctional system as a possible career path. 

“I will take a lot out of this class for my future endeavors. This class has made me seriously consider doing correctional social work,” Last says. “I've found working with this population to be fascinating and eye-opening, and I think that if I went on this path, I'd not only be personally fulfilled, but I could truly make a difference in some people's lives.”