New prison nursery brings mothers coping skills, hope
Akila Jones considers herself “hardheaded,” someone who hasn’t always wanted to follow the rules.
Her stubbornness is partly why she refused to pull her car over this spring, and instead led Cincinnati police on a high-speed chase.
Her poor decision led to a felony conviction and an 18-month prison sentence in the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
Shortly before entering prison, she became pregnant, an ill-timed misfortune, outsiders might say. But today, she gazes at 4-monthold Kajuan Currie as a gift.
Among the 2,500 inmates in the Marysville prison, Jones, 28, is one of a handful of new moms in the Achieving Baby Care Success program offering parenting and coping skills — and a cooing, babbling roommate who keeps her grounded.
“I’m grateful for the program, but there’s a fine line between being an inmate and a mother,” she said.
Both roles require a commitment to something beyond yourself, Jones said.
“You have to be an inmate first. You have to follow the rules. Your way is not always the right way. And it’s difficult, especially for me.
“I’m learning. I’m doing better than I was yesterday.”
The nursery program has been around for years, one of only 11 in the country. But in September, it jumped ahead with a new $2 million building separate from the prison reception building where it had been housed.
Called “Hope House,” the large, modern structure has a full kitchen and laundry, private living space, a program and meeting room and a modern medical office where pediatricians meet regularly with moms and kids.
The old nursery shared space with hundreds of incoming inmates who could look at the kids through a window. The rooms had partial walls, so crying babies and private conversations were heard throughout.
To participate in the program, moms-to-be must be non-violent offenders, especially those involving children, and be expecting no earlier than 30 days of their incarceration. They can’t be sentenced longer than three years and they must actively participate in the program and follow prison rules.
Gabrielle Drake is oblivious to the razor wire fencing, visible just steps outside her window in the small room she shares with her 7-day-old daughter Lakeleigh.
The newborn flashes her brown eyes and wriggles as Drake, 21, swaddles her in her lap.
In September, Drake was incarcerated on a felony drug possession charge.
Asked what it will be like when she returns to her Clinton County home as early as April, Drake gets excited about reuniting with her aunt and grandfather, to whom she is closest.
“There’s no better feeling than actually having a clear mind and thinking right, and for yourself,” she said.
Experts in criminology hail such programs for reducing recidivism and building strong bonds between mother and child. Still others question whether newborns or toddlers should ever be confined to inherently stressful places.
In Hope House, toys, books, brightly colored walls and a Christmas tree convey more happy daycare than drudgery and confinement. Ever-present counselors and psychologists step in when needed.
Even a corrections officer’s visit is welcomed.
Ashley Knight, 27, the mother of a 3-year-old herself, is drawn to the babies, and the moms, even as she guards them.
“I think this is a great program, where you see them really trying,” she said.
“I think a lot of these ladies take what we have given them, and they take it home with them. When they come in it may seem dark and gray. But when they see that there are people inside these walls who care for them, then when they go home they’re always going to have someone there for them, no matter what.”
Diane Gallagher, 35, serving a drug sentence, has learned a lot about raising her year-old daughter, Halo. And she hopes some of her skills will be useful for her 11-year-old son, Isaac, whom she’ll live with in Mount Vernon when she’s released this month.
“I felt like he was the experimental one, I felt like I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t,” she said.
Gallagher’s mother, Evowne Dailey, said she is thankful for her daughter’s sobriety and dedication to self-improvement.
“I pray to God that that is going to sustain us,” Dailey said. “She has so much support.”
The new building is safer, cleaner and more inspiring, jail officials say.
“It’s just a much better fit for the children,” said Warden Teri Baldauf. “It’s a nice, beautiful facility. But just because it’s new doesn’t make it what it is. It’s what goes on inside.
“My hope is that the bonding starts, and then they’re learning new skills that they can take home to their other children,” Baldauf said.