JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A state lawmaker is proposing a pilot project to help women in Missouri prisons have more contact with their children.
The legislation would require the departments of corrections and social services to start a two-year test program to provide transportation for children and a caretaker to visit their mothers in prison.
The measure is sponsored by House Democrat Penny Hubbard, of St. Louis. Hubbard says the children of incarcerated women already face significant obstacles and are more likely to go to prison themselves. She says cutting off children from their incarcerated mothers is punishment for the children.