Babies Born, Raised Behind Bars May Keep Mothers From Returning to Prison

Article here. Excerpt:

'After serving nine months in prison for stealing, Jacqueline McDougall’s future was on the line. A parole board would decide whether she would be locked up for an additional three years.

But her fate was not the only one hanging in the balance. If denied parole, McDougall’s young son Max, who grew up behind bars with her, would be sent home if he became too old.

“Nightline” spent a year following McDougall and Max at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in Bedford Hills, N.Y. They are part of the small, but growing number of inmates raising their babies behind bars.

The vast majority of the 2000 or so inmates who give birth in American prisons are separated from their babies shortly after birth. Bedford is one of the handful of women’s prisons that allow some incarcerated moms to keep their newborns with them, in some cases until the babies are 18 months old.'