A dear friend has died
NARSOL has received sad news. Our dear friend and one of our faithful and extremely competent gatekeepers, Ken Roberts, died Sunday morning, June 12, from complications related to congestive heart failure.
In 2012, Ken was “on paper,” on probation. His first two probation officers were very strict in following the rules. So was he, by necessity. His third PO started out strict but over time realized that Ken wasn’t much of a threat and loosened some of the restrictions. Nevertheless, according to Ken, “I sort of went into a cocoon that I’m slowly crawling out of.”
Ken was reading the “Loving a Sex Offender” thread in the now-defunct PrisonTalk website and noticed several positive references to RSOL (later NARSOL). He checked out the national RSOL website and started following its work. After a while, he shared a couple of its brochures and the URL for its website with his PO and asked if it was okay to volunteer with them. His PO checked it out and said he thought it was a good thing to advocate for for him to advocate for his situation and gave him permission to proceed.
We are so very thankful that he did.
After correspondence with Brenda Jones, Ken was encouraged to be a state contact for his state and in 2015 became the official RSOL contact for Mississippi. That position asks the person filling it to become familiar with the state’s registry and sexual offense laws; the support that is available for jobs, housing, counseling, and legal assistance; keep up on current legislative activity that affects registrants; and communicate with people in the state to help their situation and answer questions as needed.
Later that year, Ken filled in for Tim Burgess, the then-gatekeeper for RSOL, while he went on vacation. Upon his return, Tim hinted he was looking for another person to do the gatekeeping job, and Ken decided to help out with that as well as remaining the Mississippi state contact.
What is a gatekeeper? The gatekeeper is the primary contact and liaison between an organization and people seeking information or help. Communication can be by phone or email. If there is a state contact in the person’s state, the gatekeeper usually will refer the correspondence to the state contact to follow up. If the gatekeeper doesn’t know the state or what the person’s issue is, he usually calls or emails the person back to better understand their needs.
“Part of the gatekeeper’s role is to be a good listener,” Ken related. “Often people just need to vent or share their story, and we are there to give help when we can, to give a sympathetic ear, and to give encouragement.”
Ken has been a gatekeeper ever since. He held the dual role of gatekeeper and Mississippi state contact until he had medical issues that made it necessary to drop one of the two positions. He decided to vacate the state contact position and maintain the gatekeeper role. Fortunately, we have had some other people step in to take the Mississippi position.
“It’s been gratifying to be a gatekeeper, to help people who are dealing with the many issues the registry places on them,” Ken said. “It’s enjoyable to talk or correspond with people in every corner of the nation. Maybe we can’t solve their situation, but we can at least let them know there are people who care and understand where they’re coming from.”
Ken was as good at doing that as anyone we know. He listened. He was patient. He was non-judgmental. He truly cared, and that came through loud and clear. He was a dear, dear friend to NARSOL, and we feel his loss greatly, but primarily, we are more appreciative than words can convey for the time he so generously gave to us.
