Mothers in Prison: Meeting the Prerequisite Conditions for Permanency Planning

Permanency planning rests on the premise that children need to feel a sense of human connectedness and confidence in the stability and continuity of their family and that it is preferable that the family of origin serve as the primary vehicle for meeting these needs (Laird, 1979). Accordingly, when children are in foster care, caseworkers are expected to make concerted efforts to sustain family ties and encourage family reunification. This approach is affirmed by the requirements of P.L. 96-272, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, which calls for caseworkers to make diligent efforts to either achieve family reunification or provide children with alternatives that promise permanence. The law calls for the development of a case plan shortly after a child is placed in care and parental involvement in the development and implementation of that plan. Also mandated are periodic case reviews to monitor progress. Whether a child should remain in foster care, return home, or be freed for adoption receives serious consideration during these reviews. Parental involvement in these reviews is expected as well. This article examines permanency planning difficulties that arise when the natural mother is in prison. The article examines the presence of prerequisite conditions deemed necessary for the mother's involvement in case planning activities and court review proceedings. The prerequisite conditions include the means of maintaining regular contact between mothers and their children's caseworkers, continual discussion of the intent and contents of the children's case plans, and the purpose and outcome of each review proceeding. A significant number of incarcerated women have children in foster care (Barry, 1985a, 1985b; Fessler, 1991; Henriques, 1982; McGowan & Blumenthal, 1978), but there is limited information about such cases. Studies by McGowan and Blumenthal, Henriques, Gaudin (1984), and Barry suggest that contact between caseworkers and mothers is strained and infrequent and that mothers are confused about their legal status and responsibilities. There is less information about permanency planning activities with incarcerated mothers, partly because the number of foster care cases involving incarcerated mothers has, until recently, been small. The female prisoner population has been increasing dramatically, however, and it is becoming increasingly common for caseworkers to encounter such cases. The number of female prisoners has increased fivefold in less than 20 years, from about 6,000 in 1972 to more than 32,000 in 1989 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1989). It has been estimated that between 70 percent and 80 percent of the women in prisons in the United States are mothers and that 8 percent to 10 percent of their children are in foster care (Barry, 1985b; Fessler, 1991; McGowan & Blumenthal, 1976, 1978). When a mother is in prison, her ability to be included in permanency planning activities is limited. Three types of activities can facilitate her involvement, however, and constitute the prerequisite conditions necessary for the mother's involvement in case planning: (1) correspondence between caseworkers and mothers, (2) telephone calls between caseworkers and mothers, and (3) notification of mothers of upcoming court hearings. These three activities enable incarcerated mothers and their children's caseworkers to jointly identify desirable living situations for the children and to pursue agreed-on goals. The experience of implementing P.L. 96-272 in the case of incarcerated mothers has not been studied. The results from this study are therefore useful in contributing to an understanding of the difficulties encountered when working with this client population. Method During the fall and winter of 1988-89, 53 mothers in four New York State prisons became the focus of investigation. The study did not include incarcerated fathers because their imprisonment is less likely to threaten the continuity of children's living arrangements. …