LEARN ABOUT THE RESIDENTIAL PARENTING PROGRAM
Our culture tends to romanticize motherhood, emphasizing the round softness of the pregnant belly, the sweetness of the sleeping newborn, and a baby’s first smile, first steps, first words. Of course, reality for many women is less lovely. For example, few in our society are aware of the growing number of incarcerated pregnant women. What do we do with these mothers? These babies?

Prison nursery programs keeping babies together with their inmate mothers are the exception rather than the norm. One source claims that of 40 states responding to a survey on residential parenting programs, only 14 states reported that they had community facilities for mothers and children. (1) I was unable to find recent statistics on numbers of residential parenting programs similar to the one at WCCW. In most corrections systems, babies are separated from their mothers and placed with relatives or non-related foster families.

Pregnant women are frequently interested in promoting the health of their developing babies, thus pregnancy and postpartum provides an optimal time for health-related interventions. Separation of mothers and infants prevents critical mother-infant bonding which should occur to optimize neurobiological well-being. Research has shown that this bonding is crucial for developing a sense of security and trust in children. Maintaining closeness between mothers and infants provides a positive incentive for inmates to participate in and benefit from rehabilitation programs offered in prison settings. Strengthening family ties during imprisonment decreases recidivism.

Several years ago, The American Medical Association featured a report on bonding programs for women prisoners and their newborn children. The report cited several studies touting the positive effects of maternal-infant bonding and healthy attachment behavior on long-term behavior of both mother and child. Criticism about such programs largely stemmed from prison facilities’ restricted environments for infant locomotor and cognitive development along with some safety considerations. Because there is limited data to draw conclusions about the long-term effects of prison nursery programs on mothers and their children, they recommend continued support of research on the impact of mother-infant bonding programs of incarcerated women and their children. Fortunately, a research team led by Dr. Mary Byrne from the Columbia University School of Nursing has been studying maternal and child outcomes of the prison nursery programs at the Bedford Hills and Teconic correctional facilities in NY state. Since 2000 when the studies began, Byrne's research team has made significant promising findings about the prison nursery programs.

I believe that the model adopted by the WCCW addresses the concerns formerly articulated by the American Medical Association and can serve as a model for other correctional facilities throughout our nation. It is my hope that this photographic journey through the Residential Parenting Program at the WCCW will increase public awareness on the value of educating marginalized and vulnerable mothers and their children. It is also my hope that the babies rocked by their inmate mothers in this prison’s cradles will reap the long-term benefits of healthy, secure maternal-infant attachment, an essential element of child abuse prevention and productive life.

Thank You for your interest and support,
Cheryl Hanna-Truscott, 2009

(1) J. Pollock, "Parenting Programs in Women’s Prisons," unpublished study for Open Society Institute, Center on Crime, Communities and Culture, 1999. Pollock surveyed all states in 1998. Of the 40 that responded, 14 reported that they had community facilities for mothers and children.