Women’s Prison Given Low Marks For Pregnant Inmates; DOC Counters

TRENTON — The state Department of Corrections (DOC) issued a release on Mon., Nov. 8, challenging its poor grades in a recent “report card” study regarding pregnant and parenting women inmates.
According to DOC Commissioner Gary M. Lanigan, the composite grade of D- issued to New Jersey was based on dubious information that had “no basis in fact.”
Lanigan noted that, in gathering information for its “Rebecca Project for Human Rights,” at no time did National Women’s Law Center representatives contact a DOC spokesperson, a staff member of DOC’s Health Services Unit or anyone from the administration at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, which houses the state’s female offender population.
“We do not know with whom they spoke or where they obtained their facts,” Lanigan said. “Beyond that, they neither checked their alleged facts nor solicited comment on these findings. As a result, we were not in a position to respond to this misinformation until after it was published.”
“We are extremely disappointed,” he continued. “This analysis could have been a valuable tool to all of us in the correctional field had it been prepared in a credible fashion. Unfortunately, that is not the case.”
According to the DOC website, there were 23 inmates committed from Cape May County in the Edna Mahan facility on Mon., Nov. 15:
Latanya Blackmon, Florence Chan, Amy Cross-Harrison, Paula Harmon, Shantelle Harris, Lisa Hearon, Ashley Hofer, Malika Howard, Dawn James, Jamie Krail, Danielle Leroy, Maura McCaffery, Yolanda Murchison, Maria Nunez, Alicia Pickul, Noel Pierce, Season Reeves, Elizabeth Roberson, Terri Schaffer, Carla Stevens, Jennyvon Vasquez, Debra Wilson and Toni Young.
It is unknown whether these or any other females from this county were ever pregnant while incarcerated in Edna Mahan.
“Our objective is to provide adequate care to pregnant offenders,” Lanigan said, “and we have consistently fulfilled that objective.”
A Herald story from October 2008 dealt with the same issues at the Cape May County Correctional Center.
At that time, the Cape May County Advisory Commission on the Status of Women spoke with the Herald regarding women incarcerated in county jail, noting that they should still receive equal opportunity for exercise, adequate medical care — especially pregnant women — and basic human rights.
Two former inmates said that pregnant women were treated nearly identically to other inmates.
Former county Sheriff John Callinan said at the time that receiving pregnant woman at the county correctional facility was “rare.” He estimated less than three cases of pregnant women in jail that year.
“The last place a judge would place a pregnant woman, or a seriously ill person, is in jail,” he said. “But sometimes there is very little choice and they have to come to the correctional facility.”
He said when the jail receives those rare pregnant cases, they are cared for by the facility’s contracted nursing staff at the on-site clinic. Callinan said most women leave the correctional facility before they give birth. However, if they were to give birth during their term in the jail, they would be taken to Cape Regional Medical Center for care.
Regarding the Edna Mahan facility, Administrator William Hauck pointed out in the release that it avails offenders to programs specifically designed to emphasize and enhance parenting skills, among them Project Storybook, through which an offender records bedtime stories and sends the cassette home to her child; a mother-child visitation program that provides transportation for children to take part in regularly scheduled visits; and Girl Scouts Behind Bars for offenders and their daughters.
The Rebecca Project, however, made no mention of those initiatives.
“I am, and always have been, very satisfied with the treatment of state-sentenced women who are pregnant,” Hauck said. “I am equally satisfied with the quality and variety of parenting programs available in this facility. My staff and I welcome the opportunity to share this information with anyone who inquires.”