titutional environments and the principle carrot-and-stick philosophy necessary to
             control prison communities remains essentially unchanged, even as the actual methods,
             equipment, and physical facilities of corrections evolved into the modern age
             Proposal for Solution through Educational Initiative:
             This proposal relates to the funding of prison educational programs that
             incorporate the purpose of establishing and maintaining more meaningful parental
             involvement on the part of incarcerated fathers within the more general goal of also
             increasing voluntary participation in educational opportunities available within the prison
             community. Within this initiative, social work professionals would play an essential role,
             particularly in coordinating the educational material available to prisoners with the
             ongoing education of their children, wherever possible to further solidify the potential
             benefits of increased parental involvement.
             Ultimately, the successful implementation of this initiative will also impact on the
             responsibilities of social workers, by their efforts to increasing the motivation of
             prisoners to cooperate and take full advantage of the opportunities that fall within the
             professional responsibilities of the social worker to facilitate. As will be discussed in
             much greater detail in subsequent sections, social workers will play an essential role at
             the program design and development stage, in particular Funding for the proposed
             initiative could come, appropriately, from the same agencies that currently provide family
             assistance, but also from resources already available to educational programs at the local,
             state, and federal level, as applicable.
             Prisoner Education Programs and the Benefits of Increased Parental Involvement
             Within correctional institutions, voluntary educational programs are underutilized,
             particularly among the very segments of the i...