Rebuilding Lives. Strengthening Communities.

Improve reunification services at Cook County Jail so that the
instances of termination of parental rights are reduced for this
incarcerated population.
Recommendation
Issue
While incarcerated fathers may find themselves incurring
mounting child support debts during their imprisonment,
incarcerated mothers will more likely face custody battles.
Approximately 10 percent of children of incarcerated
mothers are placed in foster homes, whereas only two
percent of children of incarcerated fathers are placed in
foster homes. 47 Since custody issues disproportionately
affect mothers, women’s correctional facilities must be
especially prepared to assist prisoners with these matters.
The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) provides for
tight timelines in processes and reports to guide the court
system in situations where children have been removed
from their biological parents. 48 Once the child has been in
state care for 15 out of the previous 22 months, the State
must file a petition to terminate parental rights. 49 Whether
a case progresses towards reunification, adoption or subsidized
guardianship is dependent on the factors of each
individual case. Ultimately, the court must determine
whether the best interests of the child are served by a plan
for reunification or some other permanency goal. 50
provide these services. In order to meet DCFS’ interactive
visiting requirements, all three adult women’s correctional
facilities have child-friendly visiting areas, where the
mother can touch, hold and play games with her children.
Free bus services are readily available to transport children
to and from Cook County to downstate prisons. For
situations where such visits are impractical, video
conferencing capabilities now exist at the Women’s
Treatment Center in Chicago, enabling children to more
meaningfully engage with their mothers. Children are
given free bus tokens to the center, and the conferences are
even recorded so the child can replay them at home.
But according to Gail T. Smith, Executive Director of
Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers
(CLAIM), mothers often are held in pretrial detention at
Cook County Jail for as long as a year without access to
services to progress in their reunification plan. 51
Nevertheless, the State’s Attorney may still move to
terminate parental rights during this time.
Fortunately, since the advent of the Women and Family
Services Division in 1999, the Illinois Department of
Corrections (IDOC) has greatly expanded its efforts to
assist mothers with custody issues during their incarceration.
52 When a mother enters an Illinois prison, she is
interviewed about the status of her children, and whether
they are in foster care or the custody of a family member.
Prison staff then contacts DCFS to determine what type of
reunification plan, if any, is in place. If the plan calls for
drug therapy or parenting classes before the mother can
reestablish custody of her child, the prisons typically
MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY
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