Babies in prison
April 5, 2006 7:21 AM Subscribe
Babies in prison. "The Prison Service provides special accommodation as the children "are not prisoners and have committed no offence"."
The kids probably have a better life in there than they would if their naughty mothers were free.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:04 AM on April 5, 2006
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:04 AM on April 5, 2006
Prison kids in Bolivia have a harder time, anyway.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:09 AM on April 5, 2006
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:09 AM on April 5, 2006
The supports available there may help some of these moms develop better parenting skills than they might on the outside. This seems to be a very sensisble approach to dealing with imprisoned moms.
What about fathers, though?
posted by raedyn at 8:21 AM on April 5, 2006
What about fathers, though?
posted by raedyn at 8:21 AM on April 5, 2006
This seems pretty good, all things considered. From the title I figured it was going to be yet another news story about how much the US sucks. Tortured babies in Guantanamo or something.
posted by blacklite at 8:30 AM on April 5, 2006
posted by blacklite at 8:30 AM on April 5, 2006
OK, yeah, I'm going to be sticking my head into the toilet along with this outlet I've pulled from the wall.
Wow.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 8:59 AM on April 5, 2006
Wow.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 8:59 AM on April 5, 2006
In the US they are given to foster parents or eligible family members.
posted by milovoo at 9:13 AM on April 5, 2006
posted by milovoo at 9:13 AM on April 5, 2006
Wow. Something approaching actual rehabilitation. What a concept.
posted by thekilgore at 9:33 AM on April 5, 2006
posted by thekilgore at 9:33 AM on April 5, 2006
Actually, they do have these facilities in the United States, though I don't know how many. Tamar's Children is one such institution in Baltimore. The blurb doesn't mention it, but it's also for pregnant women currently serving sentences, not just for those starting to complete theirs.
posted by Anonymous at 10:03 AM on April 5, 2006
posted by Anonymous at 10:03 AM on April 5, 2006
In Dutch prisons they have rooms where inmates can make babies with their non-incarcerated partners. I've no idea what happens with babies born in prison though.
posted by kika at 10:13 AM on April 5, 2006
posted by kika at 10:13 AM on April 5, 2006
There are issues in the US regarding the mother/child relationship. Sometimes it's in the child's best interest to go to a different family in order to break a pattern of abuse or neglect.
Unfortunately, the primary objective here isn't the welfare of the child; it's reuniting the child with his/her birth parent(s) irrespective of whether or not it's healthy for the kid.
posted by leftcoastbob at 11:06 AM on April 5, 2006
Unfortunately, the primary objective here isn't the welfare of the child; it's reuniting the child with his/her birth parent(s) irrespective of whether or not it's healthy for the kid.
posted by leftcoastbob at 11:06 AM on April 5, 2006
I think Wisconsin is a tad ahead of the curve in the US. There was a recent newspaper series on our biggest women's prison which covered many of these issues: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Basically this sort of thing varies from state to state. The federal government prison system -- which covers both white-collar crime, many drug crimes, and certain violent crimes like murder of a federal agent or terrorism -- is entirely separate, and I suspect has a superior treatment.
Bill Moyers NOW on women prisoners explains that there's a federal law requiring that parents whose children are placed in foster care longer than 15 months can have their parental rights terminated. This creates an incentive (one purpose, probably) for family members to take over care -- "kinship care" isn't counted as foster care, and it's also much cheaper for the states, as there are fewer subsidies for grandmothers and aunts as guardians.
posted by dhartung at 12:05 PM on April 5, 2006
Bill Moyers NOW on women prisoners explains that there's a federal law requiring that parents whose children are placed in foster care longer than 15 months can have their parental rights terminated. This creates an incentive (one purpose, probably) for family members to take over care -- "kinship care" isn't counted as foster care, and it's also much cheaper for the states, as there are fewer subsidies for grandmothers and aunts as guardians.
posted by dhartung at 12:05 PM on April 5, 2006
In New York kinship is just another subset of foster care proper - relatives earn the same rates and are eligible for federal subsidies if they adopt. Sometimes relatives call in their own family members for abuse so the kids will go into care rather than forcing a custody battle in court - custody comes with no board rate and no Medicaid.
The federal law is ASFA - the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. TPR timelines can be mitigated by family courts. Many times judges will suspend judgment on parents based on good behavior. Kids can be in limbo for years, even under ASFA.
I think children are mandated to have visitation with parents in prison if they're within a certain mile radius, but reunification under such circumstances if probably not going to happen. They usually go to a relative or foster parent and are adopted. I've seen cases where fathers would come out of prison years later and get custody, though. It can happen.
posted by Marnie at 12:22 PM on April 5, 2006
The federal law is ASFA - the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. TPR timelines can be mitigated by family courts. Many times judges will suspend judgment on parents based on good behavior. Kids can be in limbo for years, even under ASFA.
I think children are mandated to have visitation with parents in prison if they're within a certain mile radius, but reunification under such circumstances if probably not going to happen. They usually go to a relative or foster parent and are adopted. I've seen cases where fathers would come out of prison years later and get custody, though. It can happen.
posted by Marnie at 12:22 PM on April 5, 2006
I say put the kids in jail. At least they'd be safe from this guy.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:24 PM on April 5, 2006
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:24 PM on April 5, 2006
Washington State has a fairly innovative Residential Parenting Program.
posted by mmdei at 12:30 PM on April 5, 2006
posted by mmdei at 12:30 PM on April 5, 2006
Cool link! I kind of wish this were Everything so I could shoot a C! your way.
posted by JHarris at 1:51 PM on April 5, 2006
posted by JHarris at 1:51 PM on April 5, 2006
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And its probably nothing, but none of the babies in those pictures seem to be smiling.
posted by gsteff at 7:55 AM on April 5, 2006