Former S.C. Gov. Riley Participates in Prison Reading Program

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A former South Carolina governor is participating in a program that officials hope helps keep inmate fathers in touch with their children.

The Department of Corrections says former Gov. Dick Riley is spending time at Kirkland Correctional Institution on Tuesday as a special guest for a program called Father's Voice.

Officials say the program was created through the Riley Institute Diversity Leaders Initiative and aims to establish a bond between incarcerated parents and their children by providing ways for them to connect when they can't visit in person or talk on the telephone.

Organizers say inmate fathers on good behavior are given recordable books, on which they can tape their voices and send home to their children.