Mothers in Prison
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Delaware Center for Justice Makes Recommendations for Addressing Unmet Needs of Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children
August, 2001

Even though the last two decades have seen an explosion in the numbers of women incarcerated, little attention has been focused on this population and on the plight of their children. In part, as suggested in a 1999 article in the Stanford Law Review, this is because the vast majority of women do not commit the kinds of crimes that engage the media, and their children are not distinguished from other children who get caught up in the juvenile welfare systems.

The current prison population at Baylor Women's Correctional Institution (BWCI) stands at about 400 in a facility built to house 200 women just ten years ago. The vast majority of these women are mothers, for the most part single mothers, and they are generally serving sentences for non-violent crimes. The negative effects on their children, including delinquency and criminal behavior, have long been recognized. Unfortunately, because current sentencing practices fail to deliver fair and effective community-based sanctions for nonviolent women offenders, their children are unnecessarily at risk of becoming victims of their parent's crime.

In Delaware, before BWCI was opened, a needs assessment and rigorous evaluation of programs resulted in the implementation of several cost effective programs which help female offenders to become law-abiding and self-sufficient when they return to the community, as virtually all eventually do. These programs include mentoring, prerelease workshops, life skills classes, parenting classes, faith-based programs, programs targeting mothers and their children, and drug treatment. However, the excess crowding has limited participation in some of these programs. For example, the academic, vocational, and parenting programs are only able to reach a small portion of the population.

One recommendation of the needs assessments completed over a decade ago called for a transition center. Such a facility, now in the design stage as a Level 4 substance abuse treatment center, will be opened in the next two years on the grounds of BWCI This facility will house approximately 120 women who will spend three months in drug treatment and three months in work release. It should be noted, however, that the "Delaware Department of Correction Female Offender Master Plan" completed last year, recommended a new 265-bed Level 4 facility on the grounds of BWCI, with five programs: intermediate sanctions, substance abuse treatment, mother and child, transitional mental health, and day treatment. The Delaware Center for Justice also supports a chapel, which was recommended in the 1990 needs assessment.

Another recommendation of the 1990 needs assessment called for a nursery for incarcerated women who give birth while in prison. The early severance of the mother child relationship adversely affects early child development, with implications for long-term damage to the child's developmental potential. Mothers and children do not have the opportunity to bond, and mothers lack the opportunity to develop hands-on parenting skills. We support a nursery, either on the grounds of BWCI or in the community, which will give mothers the opportunity to develop the parenting skills they will need when they will be reunited with their children following release.

Finally, although Delaware has made some progress in addressing the needs of female offenders, the prison population will continue to grow unless: (1) we apply what we have learned about effective intervention earlier in the life cycle to prevent entry into the criminal justice system; and (2) we offer broader sentencing options for women in the criminal justice system, including diversion programs that offer needs assessments, referrals to treatment and other resources, restitution opportunities, reconciliation with victims and the community, and assistance in preparing for and finding employment.

On a national level, we support a recent recommendation of the American Bar Association to establish a National Commission to consider sentencing and correctional issues as they relate to incarcerated women and their children. However, we do not have to wait for a report from such a Commission. Right now, in Delaware, we have an opportunity to adopt a correctional policy that appropriately addresses the needs of female offenders and their children.

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