Photo Provided ABOVE: Inmates at the Belmont Correctional Institute participate in a graduation ceremony.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Keeping incarcerated individuals connected with their families is very important at Belmont Correctional Institution.

BeCI has recently held events to promote family engagement and involvement by having a graduation event along with a Fathers Matter event. Both events encouraged and allowed families to enjoy and celebrate accomplishments made by the incarcerated individuals.

Events such as these are opportunities to promote, maintain, and enhance family relationships outside of the visiting department. These events were conducted by the Education and Unit Management Departments, and 25 incarcerated individuals with 37 family members participated, while 23 incarcerated individuals with 61 family members participated in the Fathers Matter event. BeCI is focused on family involvement and has future events scheduled.

BeCI will be working with other departments, such as Religious and Recreation Departments to provide more of these opportunities.

“The team here at BeCI is invested in helping families stay connected. We have worked hard to provide a positive experience for families that visit our facility,” Warden David Gray said. “We know that upon release, the incarcerated individuals have a much better chance of success if they have family beside them. Family engagement events like Graduation and Fathers Matter help keep families connected allowing bonds between parents and children to grow. We believe that every child who visits our prison leaves with a memory. We want that memory to be a positive one that helps repair relationships.”