I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 569
To authorize the National Institute of Corrections to make grants to States
to carry out family unity demonstration projects; and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 25, 1993
Mr. WASHINGTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To authorize the National Institute of Corrections to make
grants to States to carry out family unity demonstration
projects; and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Unity Dem-
onstration Project Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 102. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) An increasing number of children are be-
coming separated from their primary caretaker par-
ents due to the incarceration of such parents in pris-
ons and jails.
(2) This separation of children from their pri-
mary caretaker parents can cause irreparable harm
to the children’s psychological well-being and hinder
their growth and development.
(3) A significant number of children are born
shortly before or during the incarceration of their
mothers and are then quickly separated from their
mothers, preventing the parent-child bonding that is
crucial to developing in children a sense of security
and trust.
(4) Maintaining close relationships with their
children provides a powerful incentive for prisoners
to participate in and successfully benefit from reha-
bilitative programs.
(5) Maintaining strong family ties during im-
prisonment has been shown to decrease recidivism,
thereby reducing prison costs.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to create demonstration projects designed to
alleviate the harm to children and primary caretaker
parents caused by separation due to the incarcer-
ation of such parents,
(2) to promote development of policies to assign
prisoners whenever possible to correctional facilities
for which they qualify closest to their family homes,
(3) to reduce prison populations,
(4) to reduce recidivism rates of prisoners by
encouraging strong and supportive family relation-
ships, and
(5) to reduce the cost of providing correctional
services and maintaining traditional correctional fa-
cilities by decreasing recidivism and maintaining
community correctional facilities at lower cost.
SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney
General’’ means the Attorney General of the United
States.
(2) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi-
vidual who is less than 6 years of age.
(3) COMMUNITY
CORRECTIONAL
FACILITY.—
The term ‘‘community correctional facility’’ means a
residential facility that—
(A) is used only for eligible prisoners and
their children,
(B) is neither physically part of, nor in the
vicinity of, a jail or prison,
(C) is located in a nonrural area,
(D) has a maximum capacity of 25 pris-
oners in addition to their children, and
(E) provides to residents—
(i) a safe, wholesome, stable, caring,
and stimulating environment for children,
under the supervision of child development
professionals,
(ii) pediatric and adult medical care
consistent with medical standards,
(iii) culturally sensitive programs to
improve the stability of the parent-child re-
lationship, including educating parents re-
garding—
(I) child development, and
(II) household management,
(iv) alcoholism and drug addiction
treatment for prisoners and age-appro-
priate substance abuse education for their
children,
(v) programs and support services to
help residents—
(I) to improve and maintain men-
tal and physical health, including ac-
cess to counseling and other commu-
nity services,
(II) to obtain adequate housing
upon release from State incarceration,
(III) to obtain suitable education,
employment, or training for employ-
ment, and
(IV) to obtain suitable child care.
(4) ELIGIBLE PRISONER.—The term ‘‘eligible
prisoner’’ means a primary caretaker parent who—
(A) is sentenced to a term of imprisonment
of not more than 10 years,
(B) is incarcerated currently to serve such
sentence,
(C) is not eligible currently for probation
or parole until the expiration of a period ex-
ceeding 180 days, and
(D) has never been convicted of—
(i) homicide,
(ii) inflicting, or threatening to inflict,
serious bodily injury on another individual,
for which the term of imprisonment ex-
ceeds 1 year,
(iii) kidnapping,