Prison program bonds moms, babies

INDIANAPOLIS -- Three-week-old Kevin fussed in mother Melissa Lankey's arms until she started singing softly to him, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." The newborn began dozing within seconds.

"That's kind of our little song. It usually calms him right down," Lankey said.

Lankey did not sing the tune in the baby's bedroom. She was behind bars at the Indiana Women's Prison, where a new program allows some inmates to keep their newborns in their cells for up to 18 months.

The program debuted last month, becoming the sixth in the nation in a growing trend among state prison systems.

The programs come at a time when the nation's female inmate population is rising.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics shows the number of women in prisons and jails jumped from more than 163,000 in 2000 to nearly 210,000 in mid-2006, fueled largely by an increase in drug convictions that carry mandatory sentences.

Many of those inmates are mothers who experts say benefit from staying with their children, even if it's behind bars.

The Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, whose nursery program Indiana modeled, has seen 14 of its 128 participants re-offend, an 11 percent recidivism rate compared with the institution's rate among all inmates of about 30 percent, spokeswoman Elizabeth Wright said. New York also has seen a dropoff, said Linda Foglia, spokeswoman for that state's Department of Correctional Services.

Indiana hopes for similar results with its program, funded through a $122,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Wee Ones Nursery at the 136-year-old Women's Prison is open to up to 10 imprisoned mothers who are the legal guardians of their children, have never been convicted of violent crimes, and have less than 18 months left on their sentences.

The mothers receive courses on postpartum care, child development, shaken baby syndrome and other topics.

"We hope that we'll continue to make the family the unit that it should be and strengthen those that are going back out into the community," prison Superintendent Zettie Cotton said.

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