It is understandable to want to help, but the honest answer is that people on the outside have no formal influence over where an inmate is housed or what custody level they are assigned to.
This surprises a lot of families because it seems like something a judge or an attorney could at least push for. The reality is that even a judge cannot dictate facility placement. A judge can recommend or suggest a particular type of facility in the sentencing order, and some do, but the department of corrections is an independent agency and is not legally bound to follow those recommendations. Custody designation is entirely their call.
What does work in your son's favor is the nature of the offense and the length of the sentence. Corrections departments use a classification scoring system that weighs factors including the current charge, criminal history, institutional behavior, and sentence length. Nonviolent offenders serving less than twelve months typically score low enough to qualify for minimum security placement, which often means a penal farm, a work camp, or a similar lower-custody facility. The system is designed to put people like him in those settings because it frees up higher-security bed space for people who actually need it.
In other words, the outcome you are hoping for is likely to happen through the normal classification process without anyone having to push for it. The classification happens relatively early after intake, so if he has been recently sentenced, that process is probably already underway.
If you have concerns about where he ends up, his attorney can write a letter to the department of corrections outlining the relevant factors and requesting consideration of minimum security placement. It is not binding, but a formal letter from counsel carries more weight than a call from a family member and puts the request on record