Current senior and graduating BSW student Cece Babat’s work helped sustain a parent-child reading program at the Brown County Jail. Now, with the help of a grant from the Public Humanities Exchange Program, her Change Agent Project will provide space for young people to explore the impact of various systems of oppression in their lives.
“I am creating a book club for 8th grade to early high school students based on social justice literature,” Cece says. “The club will run for four weeks and provide students with the opportunity to come together and discuss how systems of privilege and oppression are impacting their lives and the world around them.”
Babat hopes the club addresses a gap in services that focus primarily on parents and children under 10. She’s partnering with The Literacy Link, The Arts + Literature Laboratory, and the Crossing Campus Ministry to facilitate the project.
Students like Cece complete Change Agent Projects as part of their Field Placement. Cece’s placement at UW-Extension’s Literacy Link supported incarcerated parents and their families through several initiatives, including Child-Friendly Visits, Read and Connect, and Making Reading Memories workshops which promote reading and relationship-building between incarcerated parents and their children.
“Cece is an outstanding student and has played a critical role in helping to sustain the program, Making Reading Memories, in the Brown County Jail,” said Pajarita Charles, Principal Investigator of the Lab for Family Wellbeing and Justice and Associate Professor. Implementation of the program stems from a partnership between the UW-Madison Division of Extension, the Lab, and Julie Poehlmann, Professor of Human Development & Family Studies.
Since January 2025, Cece has independently led Read and Connect and Making Reading Memories sessions in Brown County, conducting remote monthly workshops that promote literacy and parent-child engagement through reading.
“During my field placement, I have taken several initiatives to enhance the sustainability of the Making Reading Memories (MRM) program,” Cece explains. “By independently facilitating MRM workshops, I have helped ensure consistent program implementation in Brown County. Additionally, I successfully advocated with jail staff to expand the program, allowing both men and women in the Brown County Jail to participate in monthly sessions.”
In addition to facilitation, Cece assists with data collection and reports for stakeholders. “As my field placement comes to a close, I am creating comprehensive training materials for future BSW interns. These resources will streamline the onboarding process and minimize gaps in programming during the transition from myself to future students.”
Cece will graduate this spring with degrees in Psychology and Social Work. She was recently admitted into the MSW program and received a prestigious, full-tuition Martha Ozawa scholarship. As she moves on to graduate school and beyond, Cece sees the bridges between direct practice and systemic change.
“I intend to continue balancing my social work practice on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels, no matter what specific career path in social work I take.”