Visiting Mom: A pilot evaluation of a prison-based visiting program serving incarcerated mothers and their minor

Erin C Schubert1, Megan Duininck2, Rebecca J Shlafer3

  • 1Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

We describe an evaluation of a prison visiting program, Extended Visiting (EV), for incarcerated mothers and their children. Mothers (N = 24) and caregivers (N = 19) were interviewed regarding experiences with the program. Mothers identified benefits including maintaining a relationship with children, physical contact, motivation, privacy, peer support, and personal growth. Caregivers echoed mothers' appreciation for the opportunity to maintain mother-child relationships and physical contact. Mothers identified barriers including desire for overnight visits and more age-appropriate activities. Caregivers perceived travel time and costs and children's adverse reactions as barriers. When comparing EV to typical visiting, participants unanimously preferred EV.

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