JEFFERSON CITY — A plan to open a nursery for moms and their newborns in a Missouri prison is expanding before it even opens.
In initial discussions to create the first-ever nursery at a women’s prison in Vandalia, state officials focused on having room for seven mothers and their infants.
But, on Wednesday, the acting director of the Missouri Department of Corrections told a panel of lawmakers that the plan now is to have room for 14 mothers.
Trevor Foley, who took over for recently retired DOC chief Anne Precythe, said four-plus years of data shows that an average of about 56 female inmates have carried babies to term each year.
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The program is the result of a legislative effort in 2022 to reduce recidivism and keep families together after a mother is released from lockup.
The program, which is not yet up and running, allows inmates who give birth in prison to stay with their children in the facility for up to 18 months. The program does not determine custody rights and screens out any offenders with histories of violence or child abuse.
A wing at the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Audrain County is being retrofitted to house the facility and a director for the program has been hired.
Foley told members of a House budget subcommittee that the agency needs about $492,000 in next year’s budget to operate the nursery.
Under terms of the legislation, the facility must begin operating no later than July 1, 2025.
The program has support from a wide coalition, including criminal justice and anti-abortion advocates, medical and social service organizations, and people involved in other states’ nursery programs.
Allowing children to develop secure attachments as infants, advocates said, has also proven to decrease mental health issues such as anxiety and depression later in life.
Other states with nursery programs include Nebraska, Illinois, South Dakota and Ohio.