A dozen residents at the Ohio Reformatory for Women don't fit the profile of the average inmate. They were never arrested, never charged with a crime, and in fact, aren't even women. They are babies, and are living at the prison as part of a program that enables inmate mothers to raise their children in their cells.

The Achieving Baby Care Success program (ABCS) at the Ohio Reformatory for Women is one of only a handful of in-house nursery programs in the United States, designed to meet the unique needs of mothers who are locked up.

Women are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. prison population. At the Ohio Reformatory, the warden estimates that 75 percent of the 2,300 inmates housed there are mothers.

In 2006, according to Women and Prison, a website dedicated to making women's experiences in the criminal justice system visible, there are more than 1.3 million female inmates, parolees and probationers in the U.S. Two-thirds of women incarcerated are the mothers of minors.

Although research on the effect of mother-child relationships within prisons is limited, a small study conducted in Nebraska several years back suggests that prison nurseries may make mothers less likely to commit another crime and end up behind bars again. The effect on the child is even lesser known, though sociologists and psychologists contend the infant is less likely to exhibit personality or social problems if it properly bonds with and receives tactile attention during infancy.

But not every mother gets to keep a crib in her cell. To be eligible for ABCS, which started in May 2001, an inmate must be a nonviolent offender that is either pregnant or with an infant child and serving a "relatively short sentence" (less than 18 months) that is typically for drug use.  

Members of ABCS reside in a special wing of the jail. Between roll-calls, mothers take their children to a colorful prison nursery for scheduled activities and parenting education courses.

In September 2006, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) evaluated ABCS for the first time. And while they said that "the desire to continue to allow female inmates who meet the eligibility criteria to keep their newborns with them in prison for a limited amount of time are laudable," ABCS lacked the focus it needed to be truly successful.  

The Ohio DRC also reported that there were no clearly stated goals of the program, or a way to evaluate inmates' progress. In fact, the DRC wasn't even sure who the program was supposed to benefit: the mothers or the children. In addition, minority women were underrepresented in the program, despite maintaining a majority (53 percent) in the prison system.

Before evaluating the moral and social efficacy of allowing imprisoned mothers to take care of their children while they are incarcerated, it's necessary to know that 70 percent of women are incarcerated for non-violent drug, property or public order offenses. The statistic begs the question: should new mothers be sentences to prison in the first place?

One the one hand, 30 percent of women incarcerated were sentenced due to a drug addiction and prison may allow them to sober up. On the flip side, many of these women, if properly motivated by a judge and social worker, could kick their soft drug (e.g. marijuana) habit on their own. But statistics say the majority would not be able to, leaving the options of rearing a child in a drug-induced state or using the prison system like a drug treatment center.

When deciding whether or not to allow a convicted mother to keep her infant in prison, the options are limited. Putting the child up for adoption is a difficult process, both legally and logistically. Laws typically side with the mother's right to keep her child, but unless the child can be left with relatives, an incarcerated mother wouldn't otherwise be able to exercise such a right.

Clearly, in certain cases, allowing a mother the time to care for and bond with her child under supervision and while being taught parenting skills seems not only laudable, but also practical. However, before these programs are offered on a wider scale, more research on their overall effect on the mother and child is needed. In the meantime, greater resources should be allocated to educating women how to avoid unplanned pregnancies and to making contraceptives free for those most at risk of unplanned pregnancies, STDs, and incarceration.
 

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