Post by ScotKaren on Jun 21, 2006 8:26:16 GMT -5
www.sfbayview.com/050802/mothersinprison050802.html
Mothers in prison, children in crisis
by Joyce Miller
Mother’s Day is fast approaching. As we remember the mothers in our own families, please remember the mothers who are incarcerated, and let us not forget their children, who are also affected by their imprisonment.
In 1980, there were only 10,000 women incarcerated throughout the United States. Today there are more than 10,000 women in California’s state prisons alone, and thousands more in county jails. The primary reason for this alarming growth in the female prison population is the criminalization of substance abuse and the advent of determinate sentencing for drug violations. Nearly 75 percent of the women are serving time for simple possession and other low-level drug offenses or property crimes.
On a national level at last count, 130,043 women are incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails, while nearly 250,000 children, the majority under 18 years of age, are separated from their incarcerated mothers. These staggering numbers are causing untold damage to the fabric of families and entire communities.
The crisis has grown so great that even the United States Congress has recognized the drastic need for alternatives to incarceration for mothers. In 1993, Congress authorized the National Institute of Corrections to allocate $8 million a year to fund residential mother/children care facilities when the Family Unity Demonstration Project of 1993 was passed. However, no funds were ever appropriated, no facilities were operated, and the “demonstration period” has expired. Nothing was done.
On this Friday, May 10, thousands of Americans in various cities will protest the destructive social and economic consequences of maternal incarceration as part of Mothers in Prison, Children in Crisis – Campaign ‘02. Join us, ex-prisoners and their families, criminal justice service providers, lawyers, clergy, civic officials, and women’s rights and social justice advocates, as we call attention to the plight of women in prison and demand legislative change.
California voters have passed Proposition 36, which recommends substance abuse treatment in lieu of prison sentences. The challenge of implementation is the perfect opportunity to increase the substance abuse treatment services for women – and especially for women with children.
We need your help. Find out which agency is responsible for the Prop. 36 funds in your county, and urge them to increase the number of substance abuse treatment facilities for women with children – and help keep families together.
For more information and to get involved, contact Families With a Future, 1540 Market St., Suite 490, San Francisco CA 94102, (415) 255-7036, ext. 320. Help to keep mothers out of prison, and minimize the crisis of their children.
Mothers in prison, children in crisis
by Joyce Miller
Mother’s Day is fast approaching. As we remember the mothers in our own families, please remember the mothers who are incarcerated, and let us not forget their children, who are also affected by their imprisonment.
In 1980, there were only 10,000 women incarcerated throughout the United States. Today there are more than 10,000 women in California’s state prisons alone, and thousands more in county jails. The primary reason for this alarming growth in the female prison population is the criminalization of substance abuse and the advent of determinate sentencing for drug violations. Nearly 75 percent of the women are serving time for simple possession and other low-level drug offenses or property crimes.
On a national level at last count, 130,043 women are incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails, while nearly 250,000 children, the majority under 18 years of age, are separated from their incarcerated mothers. These staggering numbers are causing untold damage to the fabric of families and entire communities.
The crisis has grown so great that even the United States Congress has recognized the drastic need for alternatives to incarceration for mothers. In 1993, Congress authorized the National Institute of Corrections to allocate $8 million a year to fund residential mother/children care facilities when the Family Unity Demonstration Project of 1993 was passed. However, no funds were ever appropriated, no facilities were operated, and the “demonstration period” has expired. Nothing was done.
On this Friday, May 10, thousands of Americans in various cities will protest the destructive social and economic consequences of maternal incarceration as part of Mothers in Prison, Children in Crisis – Campaign ‘02. Join us, ex-prisoners and their families, criminal justice service providers, lawyers, clergy, civic officials, and women’s rights and social justice advocates, as we call attention to the plight of women in prison and demand legislative change.
California voters have passed Proposition 36, which recommends substance abuse treatment in lieu of prison sentences. The challenge of implementation is the perfect opportunity to increase the substance abuse treatment services for women – and especially for women with children.
We need your help. Find out which agency is responsible for the Prop. 36 funds in your county, and urge them to increase the number of substance abuse treatment facilities for women with children – and help keep families together.
For more information and to get involved, contact Families With a Future, 1540 Market St., Suite 490, San Francisco CA 94102, (415) 255-7036, ext. 320. Help to keep mothers out of prison, and minimize the crisis of their children.