“How are Pregnant Prisoners and Their Babies Treated in the American Correctional System?” : An in-depth look at Prison Nurseries and Community-Based Residential Parenting Programs, Parental Rights and Health Care

Abstract

The United States of America has one of the largest female prison populations in the world. American society has, since the 1980s, locked up more women than ever before due to harsher penalties for non-violent drug offenses. In fact, the increasing female incarceration rate has become so prevalent in today ́s American society that over a million children are left without their mothers. Research for this thesis found that despite the high numbers of pregnant inmates, there are only seven states offering prison nurseries. Furthermore, the health care in women ́s prisons is spotty, at best, and non-existent in many correctional facilities. It varies greatly from state to state and is, more often than not, better in the states that offer prison nurseries. Pregnant inmates do, therefore, often lack basic prenatal care, and if incarcerated in a state that does not provide a nursery, their babies are either given to relatives or placed in the foster care system. This thesis will show that the parental rights of these mothers can quickly be terminated due to the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) from 1996, which states that a child cannot stay in the foster care system for more than 15 months of any given 22 month stretch. Although the issue is difficult, this thesis argues that adoption may be in the best interest of a child if it happens directly after birth. Then the baby could gain the crucial bonding time with an adoptive parent and, most likely, have a better chance in life.