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Since 1901, the State of New York has operated a nursery program in the New York State Reformatory for Women. The program is located at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a maximum security facility for women. In 1930, Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation allowing women in prisons and reformatories to keep their infants, up to 12 months of age, with them while they served their sentences. In some instances, the legislation allowed infants to stay with their mothers until 18 months of age. Over the years, it became evident that the 24-bed nursery at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility could not handle the increasing numbers of pregnant women committed to the New York Department of Corrections. The female inmate population began to increase after 1985 due to the large number of women with substance abuse problems being sentenced to felony terms. As a result, the number of pregnant inmates in the system also increased. The waiting list for nursery beds continued to grow, and the Department faced a pressing need to create an additional nursery program. By 1990.
22 pregnant women at Bedford Hills awaited entry into the nursery program, and an additional 14 pregnant women awaited transfer to Bedford Hills from local jails. Many of the pregnant women in the New York correctional system, especially those committed for drug offenses, did not require a maximum security facility. Instead, a nursery program in a medium security facility was needed to address the needs of female inmates with substance abuse histories who give birth while incarcerated. Taconlc Correctional Facility was chosen for the new nursery program in 1990.
Goals and Objectives
The goals of the program are to develop a nursery program at a medium security facility, create additional nursery space to serve incarcerated women with drug-dependency problems, and provide substance abuse treatment services in con-unction with education in parenting skills.
The program was implemented with the following objectives:
Establish and operate a nursery program at the Taconic Correctional Facility.
Provide drug counseling services for incarcerated mothers identified as substance abuse.
Evaluate, monitor, and treat babies born to mothers with histories of substance abuse.
Teach parenting skills to and improve family relationships of incarcerated mothers.
Increase the likelihood that released participants will lead drug-free lives,...