NCJ Number
198844
Date Published
May 2002
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This report provides a statistical overview of the legal and demographic characteristics of the 179 women inmates who participated in New York State's Bedford Hills (n=118) and Taconic (n=61) correctional facilities' nursery programs during 1997 and 1998; also included is a follow-up report on the participants who were released for at least 1 year at the time this report was prepared.
Abstract
Currently, the nursery program at Bedford Hills has a capacity of 26 women and their infants, and the program at Taconic has a capacity of 17 mothers and babies. Mothers are generally allowed to keep their infants with them for 18 months, unless facility staff determine there is a reason for the child to leave the facility sooner. Sixty-six percent of the participants were committed for drug offenses, and 76 percent had prior adult convictions. The average minimum sentence for all participants was 32 months. The average number of living children the participants had at the time of their admission was 2.5, Eighty-one percent of the participants were single and had not previously been married. Forty-one percent of the participants had completed at least the 12th grade at the time of their admission; the average grade completed was the 11th grade. The average age of participants at admission was 30 years, and 77 percent of the participants were committed from New York City or the suburban New York City area. Nearly half (47 percent) of the participants were African-American. A sample of 45 cases of nursery participants who were released from custody were monitored to determine the placement situation of the children born while their mothers were in the nursery program. In 62 percent of the cases for which placement data were available, the last known living situation of the children was with their mothers. Compared to all females released from custody, the nursery program participants returned at much lower rates. The 3-year return rate for all 1997 female releasees was 26 percent, compared with 13 percent for the nursery program participants. Of the 11 participants who returned to the Department of Correctional Services after their release, most (73 percent) were admitted for parole violations. Of the three participants who committed new offenses, two were involved in drug offenses and the third committed first-degree robbery, a violent felony. 15 tables and 5 figures