Tens of thousands fewer women were incarcerated in the U.S. between 2019 and 2020 due to COVID-19, but as prison populations creep back to pre-pandemic norms, more children are being separated from their mothers.
LINCOLN, Ill. — Dressed in her Sunday best — pink ruffled sleeves and a rainbow tulle tutu — Crystal Martinez's 4-year-old daughter proudly presents her with a multicolored bouquet of carefully crafted tissue paper flowers. With her 5-year-old son nestled on her lap, laughing in delight, Martinez holds out her arms and pulls the girl into a hug so tight that her glasses are knocked askew.
Women held at Logan describe the Reunification Ride — one of the increasingly rare, under-funded programs designed to keep families together — as a crucial lifeline. Three hours later, the charter bus pulls up at the facility's barbed wire gates in Lincoln, Illinois, with children peering from the windows. As families progress slowly through security, shouts of"Mommy!" and squeals of glee fill the prison gym made cheerful with handmade decorations.
About 58% of women in state or federal prisons are parents of minor children in the U.S. Black and Latina women experience greater incarceration rates than white women and are about as likely or more likely to be parents, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Gina Fedock, professor at the University of Chicago's Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice, researches the well-being of marginalized women, particularly those behind bars."Most states don't have such opportunities," she said."There's a real lack of consistent resources, particularly these types of transportation programs."
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