USA - Mothers Behind Bars

A State-By-State Report Card & Analysis of Federal Policies on

Conditions of the Confinement of Prison Confinement for Pregnant

& Parenting Women & the Effect on Their Children

October 21, 2010

NWLC - National Women's Law Center - and the Rebecca Project for Human Rights released the Mothers Behind Bars report, which explores the egregious practice of shackling women during childbirth and other important issues affecting pregnant and parenting women—the vast majority of whom are non-violent, first-time offenders. In the report, each state is graded on whether it has adequate policies—or any policies at all—on prenatal care, shackling, and family-based drug treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Twenty states and the District of Columbia receive overall failing grades. The report also identifies steps that the federal government could take to improve conditions of confinement for women in federal facilities, including prisons and immigration detention.