What Are Community Prisoner Mother Programs?
There is no doubt that sending a person to state prison affects many other people. That person may have earned money that helped support a family, including children and elderly parents. The ripple effects are catastrophic for society.
This is particularly true for females sentenced to state prison who are pregnant or who have young children.
Female inmates who are pregnant or who have children aged six or under may be eligible for the Community Prisoner Mother Program (CPMP). This program allows eligible inmates to move into a community substance abuse treatment facility where they may reside with their children. The CPMP provides rehabilitative and medical services for such inmates and pediatric care and services for their children. Penal Code §§ 3410-3424.
The goal is to reunite parents with their children and re-integrate them back into society as productive citizens by providing a safe, stable and stimulating environment to learn certain life skills. The program also seeks to establish stability in the parent-child relationship, to bond with their children and strengthen the family relationship, rather than allow the prison sentence to disintegrate the family. The goal is to educate the inmates on ways to make a positive contribution to society upon completing their prison sentence.
One such program facility is in Santa Fe Springs, in the Los Angeles area. The facility can hold up to 24 female inmates and up to 40 children.
Previously, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) also operated an alternative sentencing program for mothers and pregnant inmates, the Family Foundation Program (FFP), however, the FFP closed after AB 109 was passed and most of the eligible inmates received county jail terms. Penal Code §§ 1174 – 1174.9; CDCR, The Future of California Corrections (2012).
The basic eligibility requirements for inclusion in the CPMP are that the inmate must:
- Have one or two children under the age of six (born either before or after the inmate arrived in CDCR) or be pregnant (Penal Code §§ 3416 – 3417(a));
- Have a sentence with a maximum time of six years remaining to serve (after deduction of expected good conduct credits);
- Have been the primary caretaker of the children prior to incarceration; and
- Not have been found to be an “unfit mother” in any court proceeding. Penal Code §§ 3416 – 3417.
A person will be denied CPMP placement if:
- The placement would post an unreasonable risk of danger to the public;
- The person has been convicted of any sex offense listed in Penal Code § 667.6 or requiring sex offender registration under Penal Code § 290, a violent felony (those convicted of robbery or first-degree burglary may be considered on a case by case basis) or arson;
- There is a probability that the inmate will abscond from the program due to a history of escape or detainer other than a traffic misdemeanor; or
- There is a probability that the inmate will be a management problem. Penal Code § 3417(b).
To be considered for the CPMP, an inmate in a women’s prison must submit an application to their counselor for processing. The CDCR must determine whether to admit the applicant into the program within 30 days after the application is submitted. Penal Code § 3417(d).
When a child in the CPMP turns six years old, the Board of Parole Hearing (BPH) may arrange for the child to be cared for in a non-CDCR placement. At that time, the BPH may also transfer the mother to a CDCR prison.
However, the BPH staff may use their discretion to retain a child and mother in the program in exceptional cases even when the child is over the age of six. Penal Code § 3421.
This article would not be possible without extensive reference to the excellent treatise, California Prison and Parole Law Handbook, published by the Prison Law Group in Folsom, California.
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