NCJ Number
187949
Date Published
2000
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the planning and some outcomes of South Australia's effort to develop a program that will allow the women inmates of the Adelaide Women's Prison to have extended contact with and access to their children while in prison.
Abstract
The Adelaide Women's Prison currently has a provision for children of the inmate mothers to reside in the prison facility, depending on some age criteria and safety and security obligations. Recent events, however, have exposed some significant shortcomings regarding the level or type of service being offered for the mother and child. This has led to questioning about whether it is still appropriate to allow children to reside within a prison environment. A project plan was developed and distributed to stakeholders. It defines the goals and outcomes of the "Children Residing in Prison" project. These outcomes include the development of a policy, the defining of a program model, and the development of memoranda of understanding with other key agencies. The goal of the project is to enhance positive parenting by inmate mothers in order to enhance positive child development. Among the features of the program model developed is the provision of program facilities that will be separate from the general prison population, where there will be a focus on parenting skills, child development, child nutrition, and discipline. Appropriate agencies will cooperate to provide support services for the child. The environment will be both child and adult friendly to meet minimum industry standards for buildings, furnishings, and equipment. 5 references