Incarcerating Mothers Creates a Family Crisis

Maternal incarceration is a widespread and significant issue in the United States. Nearly 80% of women in jail are mothers and primary caregivers, and many are single parents (Source: Vera Institute). When a mother is incarcerated, the ramifications not only impact her but ripple through her community and unravel the stability of her family. Felt by those who love her and depend on her, her separation and detainment become a catalyst for consequences.

Mothers impacted by the criminal legal system need more than a safety net—they need pathways forward, paved with opportunities. At the Women’s Prison Association (WPA), we work directly with justice-impacted mothers, helping them access the supportive services they need and deserve.

“We meet women where they are,” says Meg Egan, Chief Executive Officer of WPA. “We provide whatever care they may need—safe, stable, supportive housing, employment resources, clinical care, emergency assistance—so that they can stabilize and their families can thrive.”

WPA’s vision is audacious. By providing holistic services to women at risk of or returning home from incarceration, prevention is prioritized over punishment, and families are given the chance to stabilize in their communities. However, without further investments in these evidence-based practices and the expansion and availability of these services, justice-impacted families lose out on opportunities to remain together. This not only punishes mothers but also their children. 

“What children need is stability and love, and when their parent is incarcerated, that is taken away from them,” states Joyce McMillan, WPA Board member and Founder and Executive Director of Just Making A Change for Families (JMACforFamilies). 

Joyce is also a former WPA client. She dealt not only with the impact that the criminal legal system had on her own life but also with the impact it had on the lives of her two daughters. “It causes harm and trauma, and targets people who have been historically marginalized,” she says. 

Better outcomes for families cannot be reached without addressing the impacts of incarceration on mothers and their children by creating family-focused solutions.

How Incarceration Impacts Mothers and Their Children

The trauma of system involvement and incarceration not only harms justice-impacted mothers but also their families. Most women who are incarcerated or at risk of being incarcerated are primary caregivers of their children or loved ones, and their systems involvement disrupts the whole family. This does not create public safety but diminishes it. 

A significant barrier between an incarcerated mother and her return home is poverty

Most incarcerated mothers are held in jails rather than prisons, and a significant barrier to their release is the high cost of bail. While most people who are held pretrial are offered bail, they can’t always afford it. This financial barrier disproportionately affects low-income women and contributes to cycles of incarceration, family instability, and economic hardship (Source: Prison Policy).

Incarcerating mothers disrupts the health and well-being of their children

Having incarcerated family members constitutes an adverse childhood experience (ACE), defined as potentially stressful or traumatic events that occur during childhood. Children who experience ACEs are more likely to undergo disruptions in their health, learning, and behavior (Source: Erica M. Webster, SUNY Cortland). A study found that children with an incarcerated parent were more than three times more likely to have behavioral problems or depression than children without an incarcerated parent (Source: Kristin Turney). 

“Children impacted by parental incarceration are forced into homelessness, lose family support, no longer have access to their medical history, and develop psychological problems from all the different transitions in their lives,” McMillan says. “New siblings, authority figures, new doctors, new schools, new smells, new food: it disorients them.” 

It is stressful and traumatizing for mothers to be separated from their children 

During incarceration, contact with family is either limited or obsolete, which is challenging for both mothers and their children. 

“When I was introduced into the system, I had just had a baby. My baby was a week old, and they came and snatched me away from my child,” says Michelle, a WPA program participant. “That was one of the hardest things ever: me, sitting in a cell, just thinking about my kids. ‘What are they doing right now? Where do they think I’m at right now?’ It was very hard.”

When mothers are incarcerated, their children need a family member to step in and take care of them; otherwise, they are at risk of being removed from their homes.

“Family separation diminishes safety for families and communities,” says Egan. 

When children enter state custody, mother-child reunification has roadblocks: without access to safe and stable housing, which can be difficult to obtain after incarceration, affected mothers are unable to reunite with and care for their children. 

“Safe and stable housing is at the center of successful reentry,” Egan continues. “Without access to housing, families and communities are destabilized, and mothers risk further separation from their children.” 

Maternal incarceration disproportionately affects and destabilizes Black communities

As many as one in ten Black children have an incarcerated parent, and Black children are six times more likely than white children to have an incarcerated or formerly incarcerated parent (Source: Economic Policy Institute). Children of incarcerated mothers in Black communities face compounded trauma from systemic separation, unstable housing and schooling, and racialized stigma. With Black women incarcerated at significantly higher rates than white women (Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics), Black families are disproportionately affected by the criminal legal system. 

“Many of our clients are Black mothers living in New York City, and we see how the effects of incarceration and the risk of incarceration affect them firsthand,” says Janet K. Cooper, Senior Director of Community-Based Programming & Workforce Planning at WPA. “These mothers need culturally responsive, family-centered services that help them secure childcare, employment, stable housing, and resources for their children. The more we invest in Black communities, the more we invest in Black families.” 

Effective Programs and Services for Justice-Impacted Mothers

Family-focused, gender-responsive programs and services designed to meet the needs of women are critical investments. These initiatives target women in the community with services that address the root causes of incarceration and provide vital support. At WPA, we offer many pathways forward for mothers and their children, creating opportunities that span generations. 

“When working with mothers, we’re also supporting their families,” says Egan. “As caregivers, they’re focused on their children, and if their children are struggling, then they’re also struggling. We make it a priority to provide them with the support they need for their families, so that they can support themselves.

Offering mothers gender-responsive and family-focused options gives them agency and allows them to choose what’s best for them. The criminal legal system often takes away choice, and our goal is to empower the women we work with to determine what works best for themselves and their families.” 

Family services and parental support

Through conversations with their case managers, our clients identify their short-term needs and long-term goals. With this background, we connect them to the programs and services that best support them and their children, while also providing essential resources and items such as food, hygiene products, baby supplies, MetroCards, and school supplies. Mothers with young children are connected to childcare, school support, and youth services. 

“Many of our clients are seeking long-term solutions such as housing and employment,” Cooper says, “but they need immediate relief as well. We ensure that mothers have the opportunity to get back on their feet, allowing them to focus on their future goals. This not only helps them in the long run, but gives their children the support they need to learn and grow.” 

Trauma-informed clinical services

Trauma-informed, culturally affirming spaces help justice-impacted women navigate motherhood, address their mental health needs, and learn effective strategies to reduce their stress and support their families. By utilizing evidence-based therapies, our Clinical Services bring care directly into communities. We uplift our clients through treatment planning, counseling, expressive and somatic healing, parenting and reunification support, and self-care workshops. 

After engaging in our services, clients report stronger emotional regulation, increased self-confidence, and enhanced parenting capacity, and are more likely to participate in our housing, workforce, and reunification programs.

“It’s important to us that women find their voice and fully realize their potential,” says WPA’s Director of Clinical Services, Erica Brittle, LCSW, SIFI. “We want them to feel empowered and to learn how they can provide not only for their children, but for themselves.” 

WPA also provides therapeutic services centered on motherhood. We offer a series of on-site workshops for mothers in our family shelter, called Mother Thursdays, creating a space where mothers can come together and engage in self-care and healing practices. 

“Our Mother Thursdays support groups have been instrumental in helping mothers—many of whom have been impacted by the criminal justice system—rebuild their confidence, strengthen their parenting, and reconnect with themselves,” says Clinical Supervisor Shenetta Giles, LMSW, CASAC. “Living in a shelter with their children, these women are navigating complex emotional and practical challenges. Through the group, they’re reminded that their voice matters—that they are not defined by their past but empowered by their growth. Each session fosters connection, healing, and shared wisdom, helping them to stand in their potential not only as mothers, but as whole and evolving women.”

Additionally, we offer our Beauty & Breakthrough (B&B) Series, which provides Black, Brown, and Indigenous mothers with opportunities for guided movement, storytelling, and creative expression. These workshops are designed to help mothers connect not just to themselves, but to each other. 

“Community is healing,” Brittle continues. “At WPA, we know that recovery begins with connection, not in confinement, and we pave pathways towards relationship-building.”

“These groups create a space where healing is collective, and where women learn they are never alone in their journey,” Giles adds.

Alternatives to incarceration (ATI) programs

In 2012, WPA founded the nation’s first home-based alternatives to incarceration program, JusticeHome. JusticeHome has a profound impact on New York families: when a mother is enrolled in JusticeHome, she stays home with her children and continues to care for them, reducing the trauma of family separation and incarceration. 

“We work with the courts to reduce sentences and help clients avoid incarceration whenever possible. When the courts mandate a client to JusticeHome so that she can benefit from our services, it’s a victory for us,” says Delbie Calix, the Director of Alternatives to Incarceration at WPA. “It means that one more woman gets to remain in the community instead of facing incarceration. JusticeHome keeps homes intact and families together.” 

JusticeHome participants receive comprehensive wraparound case management and are connected to a range of support services, including clinical counseling, supportive housing, employment training and job placement, emergency assistance, and more. JusticeHome doesn’t just prevent incarceration—it gives participants possibilities. 

Alternatives to incarceration are just one of the strategies executed in criminal justice reform to no longer make incarceration the default response. These initiatives lower recidivism rates and costs, while also providing effective solutions for public safety.

“ATIs minimize stress, instability, and keep people safe,” Calix adds. “Investments in ATI programs like JusticeHome allow people and communities to recover, rebuild, and heal.”

Safe and supportive housing

Supplying supportive, affordable, and safe housing is a crucial component of uplifting families within the community. WPA provides both temporary and permanent housing at facilities in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Our supportive housing gives families immediate stability and is part of our initiative to address the root causes of incarceration, including poverty and homelessness. 

“The housing WPA provides helps families not only by stabilizing them, but also gives them pride,” says McMillan. McMillan was once a client at WPA’s shelter, where she received temporary housing for herself and her two daughters. While living in a two-bedroom apartment with enough space and privacy for her family, she received wraparound case management from WPA staff on-site, including support in finding permanent housing that could accommodate her family. 

“A lot of people come into transitional housing having experienced traumatic things, and to enter housing that would further harm you is not helpful,” McMillan continues. “The loving arms you receive at WPA and the respect you receive build you up, and that’s what people need.”

Legal support

Providing accessible and comprehensive legal services that address family law issues, including custody, parental rights, and child support, enhances family unification efforts, protects children, and empowers mothers. Our Law Project services are designed to identify the needs of our clients and connect them with the proper counsel, enabling them to enhance their stability and the stability of their family.

Gender-Responsive Care Works

When addressing maternal incarceration, the whole picture needs to be considered; every consequence from a mother’s incarceration affects her entire family, and her motherhood must inform every solution and service provided. Using gender-responsive, trauma-informed approaches, justice-impacted mothers and their children can be better supported and put forward on pathways to stability and success.

“WPA supported me and my family by advocating for me, by being there for me, and by providing for me,” says Michelle. “They’re willing to help you. WPA can help you rebuild your life.” 

To learn more about the programs and services we offer, click here.