Kids’ visit room opens
at women’s prison

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Star-Bulletin staff

Young children visiting their mothers at the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua now have a place to read and play.

Last week, the Department of Public Safety dedicated Keiki Hale, the state's first children's visit center, a brightly painted converted classroom filled with books and toys.

Most children have to visit their mothers in an outdoor courtyard, rain or shine, where they have to stay seated and keep quiet. Often the highlight is walking across the courtyard to get a drink from the water fountain, said project coordinator Serena Camara.

"I think kids will want to be here. Sometimes it's boring for the kids to be sitting on the mom's lap for an hour and a half," she said.

However, the new visit room is "such a nurturing environment, they won't think that it's a prison for the little while that we're in here."

Keiki Hale will be used for special visits with children under 6 years old, visits with children under Child Protective Services jurisdiction, or for the "Motheread" program, which encourages mother-child bonding through reading.

Inmate Rebecca Daguro, 52, said that most CPS supervised visits take place in the chapel.

"That's not really one place where the children can sit down and play and be comfortable with their parents," she said. "Right here, they can."