Broken phones and long lines to use the ones that work. Rules forbidding crayon markings on mail. Report details life for mothers in Illinoi
The stories are gut-wrenching.
The woman who learned her son was living with a person who had sexually abused her as a child, and was powerless to do anything about it.
The woman who is desperate to receive a drawing from her child, but can’t receive mail with any crayon markings on it.
The woman who said her children stopped coming to visit because they were told by correctional staffers that asthma inhalers were prohibited.
They’re contained in a new Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago report, released Wednesday, that looks at the experiences of incarcerated mothers and the barriers they face in their attempts to parent from prison. Lead authors Amy Dworsky and Gina Fedock conducted the research to inform the development and implementation of policies that will better address the needs of mothers in Illinois prisons and reduce the negative impacts on their children.
Dworsky and Fedock interviewed 42 incarcerated mothers at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Illinois, about 30 miles north of Springfield.