I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 120 

To enhance public health and safety by improving the effectiveness and 

efficiency of the Federal prison system for incarcerated pregnant women 

and mothers by establishing a pilot program of critical-stage, developmental nurseries in Federal prisons for children born to inmates, with 

risk and needs assessments, and risk and recidivism reduction. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2021 

Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To enhance public health and safety by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal prison system for 

incarcerated pregnant women and mothers by establishing a pilot program of critical-stage, developmental 

nurseries in Federal prisons for children born to inmates, 

with risk and needs assessments, and risk and recidivism 

reduction. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Infant Mortality 

3 And Recidivism Reduction Act of 2021’’ or the 

4 ‘‘SIMARRA Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

6 Not later than 270 days after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Bureau of 

8 Prisons (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall 

9 establish a pilot program (hereinafter referred to as the 

10 ‘‘Program’’) in accordance with this Act to permit women 

11 incarcerated in Federal prisons and the children born to 

12 such women during incarceration to reside together while 

13 the inmate serves a term of imprisonment in a separate 

14 housing wing of the prison. 

15 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

16 The purposes of the Act are to— 

17 (1) prevent infant mortality among infants born 

18 to incarcerated mothers and greatly reduce the trau19 ma and stress experienced by the unborn fetuses of 

20 pregnant inmates; 

21 (2) reduce the recidivism rates of federally in22 carcerated women and mothers, and enhance public 

23 safety by improving the effectiveness of the Federal 

24 prison system for women as a population with spe25 cial needs; 


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1 (3) establish female offender risk and needs as2 sessment as the cornerstones of a more effective and 

3 efficient Federal prison system; 

4 (4) implement a validated post-sentencing risk 

5 and needs assessment system that relies on dynamic 

6 risk factors to provide Federal prison officials with 

7 a roadmap to address the pre- and post-natal needs 

8 of Federal pregnant offenders, manage limited re9 sources, and enhance public safety; 

10 (5) perform regular outcome evaluations of the 

11 effectiveness of programs and interventions for fed12 erally incarcerated pregnant women and mothers to 

13 assure that such programs and interventions are evi14 dence-based and to suggest changes, deletions, and 

15 expansions based on the results of such evaluations; 

16 and 

17 (6) assist the Department of Justice to address 

18 the underlying cost structure of the Federal prison 

19 system and ensure that the Department can con20 tinue to run prison nurseries safely and securely 

21 without compromising the scope or quality of the 

22 Department’s critical health, safety and law enforce23 ment missions. 


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1 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL BUREAU 

2 OF PRISONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry out this 

4 section in consultation with— 

5 (1) a licensed and board-certified gynecologist 

6 or obstetrician; 

7 (2) the Director of the Administrative Office of 

8 the United States Courts; 

9 (3) the Director of the Office of Probation and 

10 Pretrial Services; 

11 (4) the Director of the National Institute of 

12 Justice; and 

13 (5) the Director of the U.S. Department of 

14 Health & Human Services. 

15 (b) DUTIES.—The Director shall, in accordance with 

16 subsection (c)— 

17 (1) develop an offender risk and needs assess18 ment system particular to the health and sensitivi19 ties of federally incarcerated pregnant women and 

20 mothers in accordance with this section; 

21 (2) develop recommendations regarding recidi22 vism reduction programs and productive activities in 

23 accordance with section 9; 

24 (3) conduct ongoing research and data analysis 

25 on— 


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1 (A) the best practices relating to the use of 

2 offender risk and needs assessment tools par3 ticular to the health and sensitivities of feder4 ally incarcerated pregnant women and mothers; 

5 (B) the best available risk and needs as6 sessment tools particular to the health and sen7 sitivities of federally incarcerated pregnant 

8 women and mothers and the level to which they 

9 rely on dynamic risk factors that could be ad10 dressed and changed over time, and on meas11 ures of risk of recidivism, individual needs, and 

12 responsivity to recidivism reduction programs; 

13 (C) the most effective and efficient uses of 

14 such tools in conjunction with recidivism reduc15 tion programs, productive activities, incentives, 

16 and rewards; and 

17 (D) which recidivism reduction programs 

18 are the most effective— 

19 (i) for federally incarcerated pregnant 

20 women and mothers classified at different 

21 recidivism risk levels; and 

22 (ii) for addressing the specific needs 

23 of federally incarcerated pregnant women 

24 and mothers; 


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1 (4) on a biennial basis, review the system devel2 oped under paragraph (1) and the recommendations 

3 developed under paragraph (2), using the research 

4 conducted under paragraph (3), to determine wheth5 er any revisions or updates should be made, and if 

6 so, make such revisions or updates; 

7 (5) hold periodic meetings with the individuals 

8 listed in subsection (a) at intervals to be determined 

9 by the Director; and 

10 (6) report to Congress in accordance with sec11 tion 9. 

12 (c) METHODS.—In carrying out the duties under sub13 section (b), the Director shall— 

14 (1) consult relevant stakeholders; and 

15 (2) make decisions using data that is based on 

16 the best available statistical and empirical evidence. 

17 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY. 

18 An inmate may apply to participate in the Program 

19 if the inmate— 

20 (1) is pregnant at the beginning of the term of 

21 imprisonment; and 

22 (2) is in the custody or control of the Federal 

23 Bureau of Prisons. 


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1 SEC. 6. PROGRAM TERMS. 

2 (a) TERM OF PARTICIPATION.—To correspond with 

3 the purposes and goals of the program to promote bonding 

4 during the critical stages of child development, an eligible 

5 inmate selected for the Program may participate in the 

6 Program, subject to section 7, for the shorter of the in7 mate’s term of imprisonment or 30 months. 

8 (b) INMATE REQUIREMENTS.—For the duration of 

9 an inmate’s participation in the Program, the inmate shall 

10 agree to— 

11 (1) accept the responsibility of child-rearing; 

12 (2) participate in any educational or counseling 

13 opportunities established by the Director, including 

14 topics such as child development, parenting skills, 

15 domestic violence, vocational training, or substance 

16 abuse; 

17 (3) abide by any court decision regarding the 

18 legal or physical custody of the child; 

19 (4) transfer to the Federal Bureau of Prisons 

20 any child support payments for the infant of the 

21 participating inmate from any person or govern22 mental entity; and 

23 (5) specify a person who has agreed to take 

24 custody of the child if the inmate’s participation in 

25 the Program terminates before the inmate’s release. 


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1 SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF PARTICIPATION. 

2 An inmate’s participation in the Program terminates 

3 upon the earliest of the following to occur: 

4 (1) The inmate is released from prison. 

5 (2) The infant fails to meet any medical criteria 

6 established by the Director or the Director’s des7 ignee along with a collective determination of the 

8 persons listed in section 4(a). 

9 SEC. 8. CONTINUITY OF CARE. 

10 The Director shall take appropriate actions to pre11 vent detachment or disruption of either an inmate’s or in12 fant’s health and bonding-based well-being due to termi13 nation of the Program. 

14 SEC. 9. REPORTING. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act and once every year 

17 thereafter for 5 years, the Director shall submit a report 

18 to the Congress with regards to progress in implementing 

19 the Program. 

20 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 

21 the termination of the Program, the Director shall issue 

22 a final report to the Congress that contains a detailed 

23 statement of the Director’s findings and conclusions, in24 cluding recommendations for legislation, administrative 

25 actions, and regulations the Director considers appro26 priate. 


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1 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appro3 priated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

4 2025. 

Æ 


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