American prisons are bursting at the seams. We can’t build them fast enough to keep up with the flood of offenders being sentenced. Most of the women who fill our facilities are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Most of them are mothers. Most have been to prison before. And unless we do something different, most will come again. One million Americans are now serving prison sentences, and three times that number are on probation or parole. The dollar cost of crime to our society is sky-high and rising. For the first time in our history, the U.S. is spending more per capita for criminal justice than for education. We imprison more people than any other country in the world.
And what are we getting for this investment? Just more of the same. A shocking 65% of the inmates released from prison are back within three years. One alarming recent development in is the 256% increase in the number of women being sent to prison. Three-quarters of these women are mothers, and most are single. More than a million children in our country are waiting for mom to get out of prison. Children whose parents have served time are six times more likely than other children to end up in prison themselves. In some families going to prison has become a tradition. This documentary examines several successful prison programs across the country aimed at breaking this vicious cycle. From New York to California, efforts are underway to keep mom from going to prison yet again.
It is moving to witness these incarcerated women’s pain, tears, and sorrow transform into joy, promise, and renewal. This program was produced by: Annabella Morelos, Ellen Halbert, Mary Willis Walker, and Glen Sample Ely.
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© NATIONAL AND STATE PRISON REFORM ISSUES
