Reps. Taylor and Coleman Introduce Pathway to Parenting Act

Press Release

This week, Representatives Scott Taylor (VA-02) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) introduced H.R. 5575, the Pathway to Parenting Act, which would implement common-sense reforms to the treatment of women incarcerated in the federal prison system and reduce the negative impact of incarceration on families and children. The bill specifically targets areas of reform within the federal prison system to reduce recidivism rates and improve the treatment of incarcerated women, such as expanding visitation policies for primary caretaker parents and prohibiting the solitary confinement and shackling of pregnant women. Additionally, the bill requires Bureau of Prison (BOP) employees to provide parenting classes to primary caretaker parents, train correctional officers on how to handle victims of trauma, and allow returning citizens to mentor current incarcerated people and assist with their reentry.

"Incarcerated pregnant women should not have to worry about the safety or health of their unborn children via the stress of solitary confinement or shackling. After they pay their debts to society, we must have policies in place that reduce recidivism, allow for a productive return to communities, and keep families together. American women are incarcerated disproportionately more than their foreign counterparts and there is a large percentage of them with children. This bipartisan bill is a big step in the right direction," said Congressman Scott Taylor.

"Children shouldn't suffer the trauma of separation, missed communication or worse because their mothers are incarcerated, nor should we ignore elements of a prison system that are inherently punitive when we claim that system is rehabilitative. This bill would treat women with dignity while they serve their sentences by targeting several policies for pregnant women and caretaking parents and take a vital action to prevent infant and maternal mortality with a pilot program providing small-group, comprehensive prenatal care that considers physical health, mental health and parenting skill building. The policies we've proposed here have no party -- they're simply good for the women in our prison system, the families of those women and the society these women will eventually return to," said Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman.

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