Bruce Degroot – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

VIDEO/AUDIO: Missouri’s First Prison Nursery nears One Year Anniversary

Most people thought it was a joke upon hearing it for the first time, even the man who went on to champion it through the legislature. It was an idea brought before the Missouri House four years ago, to put a nursery in one of the state’s women’s prisons.

That idea was no joke, and that nursery is about to mark one year in operation. Visitors to the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic, and Correctional Center (WERDCC) in Vandalia say the nursery has changed the feel of the entire institution—and of everyone in it.

Video by Matthew Markivee, Missouri House Communications – Story continues below

“This is not just changing people’s lives. These are lives that wouldn’t have existed without this program. This is mothers that wouldn’t have been able to bond with their kids. These are kids who couldn’t have bonded with their mother and here they can do that,” Representative Bill Allen (R-Kansas City) said.

“Amazing.”

Kaley McDowell and her daughter, Kimber, enjoy the Day Room at the nursery at WERDCC in Vandalia. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Allen, who has carried several bills dealing with corrections issues, recently visited the WERDCC nursery along with Representative Bennie Cook (R-Houston), the vice-chairman of the House Committee on Corrections and Public Institutions.

Cook said he went into the Correctional Center not knowing what to expect.

“I heard ‘prison nursery’ and I’m like, what do we expect out of this? So, getting here and seeing the young ladies with their babies and building that bond here in the prison, I never thought I would see that,” Cook said. “It sets them up for success, and I think this is an opportunity where they, if they take it, can be productive members of society and have their babies, have their children with them. It’s a great thing to see.”

Cook and Allen found themselves in a fully reimagined wing of WERDCC’s Housing Unit 1, now dubbed “1A Nursery Wing.” Cells that once held up to six incarcerated women apiece have been repurposed. Most now house one or two mothers and their babies. Another cell has been converted into a kitchen, and others store supplies for mothers and babies, both for their stay and for when they leave.

There is an impressive supply of baby clothes; shelves full of formula and hygiene products; car seats and blankets; and stacks of diapers. Almost all of it is provided through donations.

Program Director Kim Perkins introduces Representative Bill Allen to one of the babies in the nursery at WERDCC in Vandalia. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The representatives found the women in the nursery—some mothers, some caregivers—to be candid and open about their lives. Several said the nursery is giving them something to work toward.

One of the caregivers, Brianna Johnson, perhaps said it best: “If you want to see criminals self-regulate, if you want to see women [who are] incarcerated do something different and break that [cycle of] recidivism, give them something to dream about. Give them something to dream for. Believe in them and show them hope, and they’ll show you how to break that recidivism cycle.”

That is what legislators four years ago heard the nursery would do: stem recidivism. They were told that forming bonds in the first few months after birth is just as important for mothers as it is for babies. Bill sponsors and experts testified that by allowing incarcerated mothers to remain with their babies, the likelihood of reoffending decreases dramatically.

Representative Bennie Cook meets with some of the mothers and babies in Missouri’s first prison nursery, at WERDCC in Vandalia. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Tara Carroll, another of the caregivers in the nursery, spoke from experience about why programs like these can make a difference.

“To put it really bluntly: it’s a lot harder to leave the child that you know than it is to leave the child that you don’t know. It’s easy to separate yourself as a woman and as a mother from a child that you [don’t know].”

Carroll said it is also very easy for a woman facing prison time to convince herself that her child is better off without her, and to tell herself, “‘This child’s safe where they’re at. I would be disrupting the life that they know if I were to step in,’ and then the guilt and the shame of that turns into that vicious cycle all over again. I’ve lived it and I’ve done it.”

Carroll and Johnson have each experienced being pregnant and incarcerated before the nursery was an option.

Representatives Bill Allen (left) and Bennie Cook (right) called the nursery at WERDCC “Amazing,” and said they are anxious to see data on how well it performs. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“It was terrifying, the thought of having a baby, giving birth in a random hospital with no family, chained to a bed, saying goodbye within 24 hours and coming back to this horrible place, horrible medical care, and never knowing where your baby went for sure, never seeing them off, never getting to be there for any parts after that.” Johnson said of what she went through in 2013.

“I was fortunate enough they put me in an 84-day treatment and I was able to go home before I delivered, but I can just tell you that there’s trauma in even just the idea of having to have a baby, prior to this program, in the Department of Corrections.”

Johnson and Carroll are grateful to be a part of a different reality for the moms who have been accepted into the nursery program, moms like Kathy Briggs.

“Kat,” as she is known around the nursery, was 28 and “on the run” from authorities when she found out she was pregnant. Having had two previous miscarriages, she turned herself in, believing custody would give her the best chance of bringing the pregnancy to term. She soon learned she was carrying twins and resigned herself to the belief that she would have to place them for adoption—until the judge in her case, Newtown County’s Kevin Selby, had other plans.

“He believed in me. He said, ‘Miss Briggs, I cannot control you. I’m not doing this because I don’t like you. I’m not doing this because I’m mad at you, I’m doing this because I believe in you,’ and he told me about the prison nursery.”

Found their Voices: Tara Carroll and Brianna Johnson share their experience as incarcerated mothers with their fellows in the nursery. (Photo courtesy: Matthew Markivee, Missouri House Communications)

Briggs’ initial reaction was disbelief, but that changed once she walked into 1A Nursery Wing.

“I was just ecstatic. It changed my whole life. I went from always wanting to be a mom; to not being somebody that was ever going to be able to be a mom, I thought; to this place helping me live out my dreams,” Briggs said. “I have two beautiful girls that are thriving, that are healthy, that are taken care of, that are happy. This program really showed me that I can be that mom, regardless of the life I’ve lived.

“It’s given me a lot of hope.”

Discussions of criminal justice often include talk of breaking cycles of abuse, poverty, drug use, neglect, and other factors that contribute to incarceration across multiple generations. Legislators in 2022 were told the nursery program could help break such cycles.

Asked about this, Briggs speaks up before the question is finished. She described a childhood surrounded by drug abuse. She witnessed and later experienced domestic and sexual violence. Briggs said that with what she has learned in the nursery, her daughters, Lyric and Melody, will never experience those things.

Kathy Briggs sits with her two daughters, Lyric (in her lap) and Melody, along with case manager Kim Immel. Since she was interviewed, Briggs has been released and she and her daughters are doing well so far. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“I’m hoping I can teach them better, and I can teach them how to be safe and the consequences of how they act and what they do, and the importance of how we treat our bodies. That’s something I wasn’t taught, so I’m hoping to be able to teach it to them.”

Briggs is eager to tell her story, especially about how becoming a mother and her time in the nursery have changed her outlook. She points to a prominent tattoo on the side of her face that reads “D.N.R.,” short for Do Not Resuscitate.

“I just wanted to die for a long time,” Briggs explained, recalling what she experienced after one overdose. “I wanted all the pain to stop and I wanted peace and I knew after my OD that that was the peace I wanted.

“If I was to be found unconscious I didn’t want anyone to use the Narcan, I didn’t want to be resuscitated.”

Her eyes welling with tears, Briggs glanced at one of her daughters and said “DNR” is no longer the message she wants to portray, and she is looking for ways to pay for getting the tattoo removed.

“I never had made it to a year clean. I am now 16 months clean and it is the best feeling I’ve ever known, and I have two beautiful girls to show on top of it. I want to live and I want to live the best life I can for them.”

Before and after: “A” Wing of 1 House at WERDCC a little more than one year ago, before it was renovated; and now, after being transformed into Missouri’s first prison nursery. (Photos: Top – Missouri Department of Corrections and Bottom – Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The nursery’s social workers say Briggs and many of the mothers are beginning to think, for the first time in years—or ever—about a future. Carroll said that after this experience she wants to become a doula, and she believes this incarceration—her seventh—will be her last.

“My mom was just laughing with me about this the other day. She said, ‘You know kid, I never thought I’d see you in the newspaper for anything good,’ and she said, ‘Your name comes up all the time associated with this nursery program.’ She said, ‘All I do is brag on you, all the time.’ That’s something I never thought I would hear from my mom, from my family, and this program has given that to me.”

The nursery program is not available to all pregnant incarcerated women. Mothers and caregivers must pass a screening that includes a review of disciplinary history, physical and mental health, and participation in other Department of Corrections programs. Women with a history of violent sexual offenses or crimes against children are ineligible.

The program teaches more than childcare. It covers life skills so that mothers returning to their communities can care for themselves, their children, and maintain a home. Several women said they had never been taught such skills.

Reps. Bill Allen (left) and Bennie Cook (right) visit with Program Director Kim Perkins the cell renovated into a kitchen, one of the places where mothers in the nursery can learn skills to care for themselves and their babies. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Another thing many of them had not learned before, Johnson said, was pride.

“As a felon, as an addict, as a person in recovery, as a criminal, whatever; that lifestyle, you begin to build this idea of yourself as a failure. You start to see yourself as never being able to succeed. You’re never going to do anything good, you’re always going to be this same person, there’s no help out there for you. You come out [of prison and] you go back to the same things … but breaking the cycle, I think, starts with inspiring hope, and showing somebody and giving somebody something to hope for, or a reason to dream big, and this program does that,” Johnson said intensely.

The administrators’ enthusiasm is just as genuine.

“Our Ladies work so hard every day … this is not an easy program,” said Kim Perkins, the Nursery Program Manager. “It’s not easy having a baby inside an institution and it’s not easy for our caregivers. They give up a lot of their time. They could come in and just sit and ‘do prison’ but they don’t, and so I’m so proud of all the work that everybody has done.”

When asked about the nursery, Department of Corrections Director Trevor Foley’s eyes brighten and he smiles widely. He said the nursery represents the culture change the Department has been working toward.

“It’s remarkable that we can have those kinds of environments in a prison setting, and I think it’s going to be a great example of the way we can continue to work on our environments,” Foley said. “It is reflective of that culture change as people start to look at our business and our profession differently. I think it does put a real positive aspect to what we do.

“Babies make people happy, so having them around generally tends to help.”

Representatives Bennie Cook (in red) and Bill Allen (in grey suit) meet with Program Director Kimberly Perkins in the nursery at WERDCC in Vandalia.

Since opening in March 2025, 15 mothers with 16 babies have entered the program. Currently, the nursery houses five mothers and babies, along with one expectant mother. Of those who have completed the program, one mother has reoffended. The rest are back in their communities, building stable lives for themselves—and for their children—many for the first time.

“It’s a struggle. Our ladies come through, they have they have personal traumas that they’re dealing with, they have personal substance abuse issues that they’re dealing with, and so it’s a hard road,” Perkins said.

“We have women who were here for 84 days or 120 days, and some that were here for a year, so we’re going to see a lot more success with those year-long or more treatment women who have been with us for a longer period of time that we can help build that foundation of stability a little bit longer.”

“It’s already working,” Johnson said. She cited two mothers who she knows in particular, who have left the program “that have their children with them, that are thriving, that have jobs, that are caring for their children, they have stable homes. These children are not in state custody, they are not in state care, nobody else is taking care of them. It’s already working.”

In November, the man who carried the original legislation allowing the creation of the nursery was able to see it in person.

Danielly Izquierdo is gaining confidence and working toward a certification in Culinary Arts, with plans to work in the restaurant industry when she gets out in September, 2026. Her son August is a “very chatty and happy” 5 month old.

The idea was brought to Bruce DeGroot ahead of the 2022 session by Liza Weiss, founder of Missouri Appleseed. At first he thought she was joking, but over time he warmed to the idea.

“[Liza] and I politically aren’t probably on the same page, but we truly both want to just help people and this sounded like a great idea,” DeGroot said. “After I thought about it a little more, I thought it was something that would work and the Department of Corrections was just phenomenal to work with. They backed it from the beginning.”

DeGroot filed House Bill 1897 and championed the issue through the House where it received nearly unanimous support. He said the proposal proved to be an easy sell, both for its benefit to incarcerated mothers and their babies and for the economic benefit to taxpayers of reducing recidivism. The language of HB 1897 was eventually included in Senate Bill 683, which became law.

When DeGroot and Weiss visited the nursery in November, someone mentioned the role they played in its creation. The mothers and caregivers gathered to thank them. One of them was Kathy Briggs.

In 1A Nursery Wing, cells that used to hold up to 6 incarcerated women each have been modified to accommodate one or two mothers and their babies. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“When that mother of two came up to me, and I was actually holding one of her babies, and she came up to me and had tears in her eyes, and now I’m starting to choke up a little bit too, and said, ‘Can I hug you? You’ve made such a difference in my life.’ It was just amazing the feeling that I got knowing I was able to play such small part in that bill,” DeGroot recalled.

“It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done here in the General Assembly.”

As word spread about the nursery before it became reality, some staff and many incarcerated women in Vandalia were skeptical. Perkins said those attitudes have shifted. The program is now fully supported and has raised morale throughout the institution.

“It’s been so impactful just for the overall mood here. They say you can’t have a bad day if you’re looking at a baby, and I think that’s just really true,” Perkins said. “I think that the reality of what we’re doing has changed so many hearts and minds.”

Back inside 1A Nursery Wing, the moms and caregivers say they are grateful for the family they have found.

The nursery has boosted morale throughout WERDCC and staff are enthusiastic about working in it, including CO Jeffrey Patton, who mothers have nicknamed “Pawpaw Patton.” (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“We are sent to prison as a punishment, but we have really found such an opportunity amongst the punishment that we just couldn’t have got anywhere else,” Andrews said. “If we would have had these babies on the streets, even if we would have found a good rehab, we wouldn’t have had the community here with each other. We all help each other. It’s like these kids have nine moms.”

Those opportunities, that community, and those smiling little faces are what these women say have changed them.

“Can you imagine what it makes somebody like a five-time felon feel like, to know that there’s people looking up to me? Like I can do something different?” asked Johnson, who said she has started work toward a degree in communication. She, too, is looking toward her future.

“Like I said: if you want to change people’s lives, give them something to hope for.”

Those wishing to make a physical donation to the nursery such as diapers or blankets can contact Program Director Kim Perkins at Kimberley.Perkins@doc.mo.gov or call 573-594-6686 Ext: 2723. To donate a check or money order, mail it to:

Correctional Center Nursery Program
Missouri Department of Corrections
P.O. Box 236
Jefferson City, MO 65102

Pronouncers:

Bruce DeGroot = [de-GROTE]

Brianna Johnson = [bree-ANNE-uh]

Liza Weiss = [LIE-zuh WICE]

Stories from 2022:

Prison nurseries proposal heard in House committee

House gives initial approval to nurseries in Missouri prisons

Sponsors of prison nurseries proposal point to successes in other states

‘Prison nurseries’ proposal would let incarcerated mothers bond with newborns in prison

House gives initial approval to nurseries in Missouri prisons

Fueled by emotional testimony from several lawmakers, a proposal to let women in prison have their babies with them has received initial approval in the Missouri House.

*Representative Bruce DeGroot pauses to collect himself during emotional comments while presenting his HB 1897. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

House Bill 1897 would let incarcerated women in Missouri live with their infants for up to 18 months if they meet certain criteria.

House members have heard that in other states such programs have been beneficial to mothers, children, and those states. Recidivism among participants has been minimal and children have benefitted from bonding with their mothers and being less likely to enter foster care. States, meanwhile, have saved money due to reduced recidivism and need for foster care, among other factors.

The bill is sponsored by Representative Bruce DeGroot (R-Ellisville).

“When we [legislators] first got up here, I think to a person we all wanted to come up here for the same reason. We all wanted to make Missouri a better place for our kids. This bill makes Missouri a better place for our kids,” said DeGroot.

He became tearful as he said the bill makes him think of his own mother and her reaction to this and other bills he’s worked on.

“She’s not proud I’m a state rep. You know what she’s proud of? She gets proud of debtor prison bills. She gets proud of bills that make it so women don’t have to pay for feminine hygiene products in prison. She gets proud when babies can be with their mom in prison.”

Several representatives thanked DeGroot and Representative Curtis Trent (R-Springfield), who filed the same bill, for bringing the proposal forward.

“Gentlemen, don’t sell yourself short. This bill is remarkable and it’s going to change not just the lives for people who have unfortunately experienced going to jail but the lives of those children who are going to get to experience their mother,” said Representative Raychel Proudie (D-Ferguson).

Trent marveled at the widespread support this proposal has garnered from within and outside the legislature.

“When all these kinds of people can come together, when all these different perspectives can be taken into account, when that process can yield something like this bill, which has the tremendous bipartisan support … which has the tremendous support of the communities that are most effected all around this state, has the support of families, to me that is when this body and when this general assembly is at its proudest, is at its finest,” said Trent. “These children that are being born that will benefit from this program are children who will be our friends and neighbors and family for the rest of their lives and we can’t measure the impact that this will have on them.”

“What an amazing bill this is,” said Representative Rasheen Aldridge (D-St. Louis). “This is more than just a feel good bill. This is one of these pieces of legislation that I know when I walk away I’m going to be happy to say, you know, Missouri did something really great. We did something historic. We did something that when other states look at criminal justice reform, when they look at legislation that is being passed, they’re going to look at Missouri and say we did something right.”

Aldridge encouraged other members to add their names to the list of the bill’s co-sponsors to send a strong message of support to the Senate if and when the measure is sent there. By Friday afternoon the list of co-sponsors had grown to 27 House members.

If HB 1897 becomes law it would be up to the Department of Corrections to administer the nursery program and determine which women could participate. Potential participants would be screened for mental health issues and could have no record of violent offenses or child abuse.

Another favorable vote would send the proposal to the Senate.

Prison nurseries proposal heard in House committee

A proposal to put a nursery in Missouri’s prisons has gone in front of a House committee.

*Representative Curtis Trent (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

Bills filed by Representatives Bruce DeGroot (R-Ellisville) and Curtis Trent (R-Springfield) would let incarcerated women who meet certain conditions live with infants for up to 18 months.

The House Judiciary Committee heard that the program has been used in numerous other states, in some cases for decades. In those cases it has led to better outcomes for mothers and children and reduced recidivism among mothers. These and other factors have also saved money for those states.

Trent said in New York, more than 74-percent of women who left prison with their infants were still living at home with those children after 3 years, “which I think shows pretty readily that they haven’t [gone back to prison] at that point. They have maintained those family ties, and you see an improved outcome with all that.”

“We do want to take care of kids who are in a very precarious situation. We do want to do everything that we can to seek justice in the correctional system, but also make sure that justice doesn’t work an injustice by breaking a family apart that doesn’t have to be,” said Trent.

He said under the proposal, potential participants in the program would first be screened.

“We make sure that the mother will be screened for any kind of mental health problems that might exist and that there is no record of violent conduct or child abuse conduct that has occurred in the past, because the goal is to have better outcomes for children in all cases.”

The committee heard from Maggie Burke, who was a warden at a prison with a nursery, in Illinois. She assured the committee that these programs do work, and that Missouri should adopt one.

“You walk into any [prison], I’ve been in dozens of state facilities, and there is always a facility culture, and what you’ll see in every facility that has babies, you’ll see the culture is just different,” said Burke. “When you have babies in a facility it kind of lowers everybody’s anxiety.”

Representatives of the Department of Corrections told the committee that in anticipation of this proposal, they traveled recently to Indiana and viewed a prison nursery program there. They said they came away with ideas that could be utilized in Missouri, and suggestions for tweaks to the legislation filed by DeGroot and Trent.

*Maggie Burke, who was the warden at a prison in Illinois which had a nursery, testifies to the Missouri Judiciary Committee about that program.*

Representative Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold) thanked the Department for working on this and said she sees it as a continuation of previous legislative efforts.

“Briefly I wanted to thank you both very much for your openness to this program and for leading the charge on the anti-shackling [of pregnant women] legislation four years ago,” said Coleman. “Thank you so much for your willingness to look at this, and thank you for your other work that you’ve been doing on human dignity.”

Liberty Democrat Mark Ellebracht said, “This is more of a comprehensive approach to taking a pro-life philosophy to folks in Missouri. It’s pro-mother, it’s pro-infant, it’s pro keeping families together.”

Lawmakers heard that in other states, prison nurseries are supported largely by donations from private groups, and the same is considered likely to happen in Missouri. Burke said Illinois’ program was funded without any state dollars.

The bills propose that the nursery would be regulated by the Department of Corrections, though it could hand some responsibility to the Department of Health and Senior Services.

DeGroot wasn’t able to be at the hearing, which focused on his bill.

The committee has not voted on the legislation.

Sponsors of prison nurseries proposal point to successes in other states

Women entering Missouri prisons could have a chance to bond with their infant children while incarcerated, under a proposal that House members will be asked to consider in the session starting in a few days, but that concept is not new. Prison nursery programs have existed in other states for years, and in some cases for decades.

Ellisville Republican Bruce DeGroot is sponsoring one of the bills that would create a prison nursery program in Missouri, House Bill 1897. He said as a state representative he doesn’t always have the resources to provide extensive data that can help to make a case for one of his proposals, but with this bill there is ample data on what a difference it’s made in other states.

“Everything I’ve heard about this bill has been extremely positive, as it turned out in other states.”

DeGroot said while he remains passionate about tort reform, which he believes protects and supports employment opportunities, this is a bill that can have an immediate impact on individual Missourians.

“There are some bills that are just so directly related to people and their situations in life and this is one of those.”

Springfield Republican Curtis Trent will also propose prison nursery legislation. He says as the opening of the new session draws near he’s excited about pursuing this legislation.

“Of course the legislative process is there to vet these ideas and make sure there are no unintended consequences, but so far the response that I’ve gotten has been very positive, very encouraging, and the data that we have from other states and the input that we have from other people in this state so far has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Trent.

Illinois began its Moms and Babies program in 2007 at its Decatur Correctional Center. Non-violent offenders are allowed to keep their babies with them until the age of two. The Illinois Department of Public Health provides health education classes as well as lactation support and guidance. Up to eight mothers and babies are able to live in the facility in safety and with staff support and counseling, and prison staff are trained on the needs of pregnant women and mothers. Other incarcerated mothers are also able to help care for the children in the nursery.

As of 2017, more than 90 women had gone through the program. Only two had returned to prison within three years of release and only two were discharged from the program.

Maggie Burke was the warden at Decatur and managed the state’s women’s facilities until 2017. She said the program has been tremendous in her state and she thinks Missouri should absolutely begin its own.

“It’s a program that works. It’s a program that works for moms. Moms don’t come back to prison.”

“There is not a ton of research on prison nurseries, but what we do know is that it does reduce the recidivism for the women who go through the program. They are more bonded with their child and have more of a reason to stay on track when they get out.”

Debbie Denning, who was part of the exploratory team that created Illinois’ program and was Deputy Director for the department’s Women and Family Services Division, agrees with Burke.

“I absolutely would recommend that [Missouri] allow this program to happen, and I think that any concerns that legislators have can be addressed and really can help form the program,” said Denning. “It’s really important not only for the culture of the facility – it makes the administration happy, it makes the employees happy, but overall it’s the best thing for the baby and the mother, and the recidivism shows that.

Once the bond occurs the mother is much more motivated to be successful and the administration sees a shift in that facility, and facilities are extremely dark and hard to run and a lightness comes in that you just cannot believe.”

Burke said the programs in Illinois also take into account the unique needs of incarcerated women, who often are dealing with and need to recover from trauma.

“A lot of the women have experienced significant trauma throughout their lives which have led them down various paths of substance use, and so a lot of them have never been a parent without some sort of substance use … what we found was that women were able to raise a baby for the first time and bond with a child for the first time without that substance use,” said Burke.

“Part of our programming is parenting classes on learning how to be a better parent, but also part of our programming was kind of day care classes so that they would learn how you would take care of a child in day care. You would log when you changed a diaper, what kind of diaper it was that you changed, how much you fed them, how much they ate, what kind of food, what kind of drink, and how much naptime they took. You become better in tune with your child so when they come home they are better prepared to have more children if they do, just to be a better parent, a more attentive parent.”

Denning said in Illinois there were those who were skeptical about creating a nursery program, and she was proud to watch their attitudes change once it was in place.

“I had one sergeant … who was just awful about, ‘Why would we bring babies in prison,’ and ‘These women don’t deserve their children,’ and I put him on the committee. We had him, within six months on our committee, he was the first one that I had to say, ‘You can’t bring things in for the babies,’ because he was bringing in clothing and different things. It was just a complete turnaround.”

Denning continued, “I think that with anybody, when you see that nurturing environment and you see that these women bond with their children … when they started to begin to understand that our job wasn’t to punish, but really to rehabilitate and set this person up to be a parent, to feel that bond with their child, and then to go out and be able to be self-sufficient and not relying on the system. Once we were able to connect those dots, they were all over being positive about the program.”

Burke said the program benefits not only the women and children who participate, but the rest of the prison.

“The culture of the facility kind of changes. I don’t know if you’ve been into very many prisons but there’s just kind of a feeling when you go into the prison and most facilities don’t feel like a facility that has a bunch of babies in it.”

Among other states that have a prison nursery program is Nebraska, where, as of 2018, there had been a 28-percent reduction in recidivism within 3 years of a participant’s initial offense and a 39-percent reduction in participants returning to prison custody. From 1994 to 2012, Nebraska’s program saved that state more than $6-million.

Both Trent and DeGroot say they have talked to the Missouri Department of Corrections and the office of Governor Mike Parson (R) and received positive responses to this idea.

The 2022 legislative session begins January 5.

‘Prison nurseries’ proposal would let incarcerated mothers bond with newborns in prison

Women in Missouri prisons might not have to be separated from their newborns under a bill being considered for the legislative session that begins in January.

Representative Bruce DeGroot (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The plan would allow some women who are pregnant when they are about to be incarcerated for short sentences to have their babies with them in prison so that they can bond with their newborns. The idea is being referred to as the establishment of “prison nurseries.”

Missouri Appleseed is an organization helping drive the effort. Director Liza Weiss said some other states already have such programs, and some of those have been in place for years.

“These programs last for a variety of times from three months to three years,” said Weiss. She said women who have release dates falling within the given length of time and meet regulations set by the Department of Corrections, “would be able to participate in this program and live with their child, with their baby, in a separate area of the prison and care for the baby and bond with the baby, and then leave prison together with the baby, and be able to be a parent to the child.”

Representative Bruce DeGroot (R-Ellisville) will sponsor one version of the proposal. He thinks it’s simply good government.

“I think that once that bond forms, when these women get out they’re naturally going to want to take care of that baby and start doing the right things with their lives, and that’s why I’m so excited about this bill,” said DeGroot.

Representative Curtis Trent (R-Springfield) plans to sponsor similar legislation. He said the results seen in other states are encouraging.

“Women and children do better, both in terms of mental health, the bonding of the child to the mother. There’s also some indication that recidivism rates are lower in the long run, and of course there’s savings to the taxpayer as well. If you take the child from the mother and put it into the foster system that’s a very expensive process.”

“Research on the development of the child has been very positive as well,” said Weiss. “We realize this would be a change for the Department of Corrections, but we do think it would really be a win-win for the women and the babies.”

The Department told House Communications that right now when a woman in a Missouri state prison gives birth, that baby goes into foster care or with a family member.

Currently, pregnant women are housed at the prison in Vandalia. As of early October, 23 had delivered babies. In 2016, that number reached 73, but decreased to 49 in 2019 and 31 last year. The Department notes that in the last 4 years Missouri’s population of incarcerated women has dropped by 42 percent.

Representatives DeGroot and Trent are still developing draft language for their bills, and DeGroot said the Department of Corrections is involved. He expects to propose that the program be available to women whose sentences are for up to 18 months.

“The [woman has] to be a model prisoner. She has to either have a high school degree or equivalent, or [be] working on that while in prison. And, they have to remain a model prisoner, and they have to engage in pre- and post-natal classes so they learn how to take care of that baby.”

DeGroot said he also views this as a “pro-life bill.”

“I don’t know how many women who are scheduled to go to prison would actually consider aborting that baby before they got there, but I think this provides an incentive and peace of mind knowing that you’re going to be able to keep that baby and get that mother-baby bond while you’re still incarcerated … we’ve given some real hope, if this bill would get enacted,” said DeGroot.

Not only is it anticipated the idea would save the state money, Weiss said she thinks it could be entirely supported by outside donations and grants.

“Missouri Appleseed has already been approached by several charities and foundations who’ve said this is something they’d be very excited about to support,” said Weiss. “And part of the draft language from Representative DeGroot’s bill does create a fund in which grants from foundations and donations can be accepted by the state, too, to fund and sustain the nursery.”

Legislators can begin pre-filing legislation on December 1, for the session that begins in January.

Pronunciations:

DeGroot does not include the “oo” sound = [de-GROTE)

Weiss rhymes with mice = [wice]

Feminine hygiene products now free to all women incarcerated in Missouri

Women incarcerated in Missouri prisons and jails will now have access to feminine hygiene products free of charge, under legislation that became law in July.

Senate Bill 53, signed into law by Governor Mike Parson (R) on July 14, included language that requires city and county jails to join the state’s prisons in providing those products to female inmates at no cost. Many facilities had already been doing this. The new law codifies that practice and extends it to those facilities that weren’t.

Research in 2018 showed that in Missouri’s two female prisons, more than 80 percent of women were making their own hygiene products, and those they were given for free were ineffectual. These homemade products were often resulting in infections or other complications.

The same language found in SB 53 was also sponsored by Representative Bruce DeGroot (R-Ellisville) in his House Bill 318. DeGroot said the measure was a way to provide dignity to incarcerated women, while saving the state money.

“These women were receiving additional medical treatment at the cost of the Missouri taxpayer when they did fashion their own products in order to save money,” said DeGroot.

The proposal had broad bipartisan support. One of its most vocal advocates was Representative Tracy McCreery (D-St. Louis).

“What the research has shown is that if you don’t provide people with adequate products, they end up with poorer mental health outcomes and also with infections that can be really quite costly for the government since we’re responsible for healthcare when people are incarcerated,” said McCreery.

Representatives McCreery and DeGroot both worked with an organization called Missouri Appleseed regarding the issue. Appleseed is a nonprofit based in St. Louis. Founding Director Liza Weiss said women in Missouri prisons were having to choose between things like buying adequate hygiene products, or talking to their children on the phone.

Representative Tracy McCreery (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“Women in Missouri prisons who have a GED, they make approximately $8.50 a month, and before this bill passed tampons were being sold in the canteen; a pack of 20 was like $5.36,” said Weiss. “We’ve heard so many stories … that often times women would be turning down visits with an attorney or even with their family members because they were so ashamed that they weren’t able to take care of their menstrual cycle … they were worried about being embarrassed.”

McCreery said part of what was so encouraging about this legislation was its bipartisan nature.

“A lot of Missourians and even a lot of elected officials are really tired of the hyper-partisanship, and this was one of those issues where people from both sides of the aisle and also males and females came together to make this change happen, and I think that we need to do more of that,” said McCreery.

The fiscal year 2022 budget also includes $240,000 to pay for providing those products to women in county and city jails and detention centers.

Pronunciations:

DeGroot does not include the “oo” sound = [de-GROTE)

Weiss rhymes with mice = [wice]

House bill to end modern ‘debtors’ prisons’ in Missouri signed into law

A House bill that became law Tuesday aims to keep Missourians from being jailed for failing to pay the costs of being jailed.

Representative Bruce DeGroot (center, standing) watches as Governor Mike Parson signs a bill he sponsored, House Bill 192, into law. (photo; Ben Peters, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 192, targeting so-called “debtors prisons” in Missouri, was signed into law by Governor Mike Parson (R). It will do away with “show cause” hearings, in which defendants must provide a reason for failing to pay “board bills” for time they spent in a county jail. Failure to show cause often resulted in additional jail time and additional board bills that could add up to thousands of dollars.

HB 192 will let counties use civil means to collect jail debts, but they can no longer threaten additional jail time for failure to pay.

“[Courts] can still charge people for the time they spend in jail. [They] can’t have show cause hearings anymore. [Courts] can’t put people back in jail for not paying their jail bill,” said bill sponsor Representative Bruce DeGroot (R-Chesterfield). “[Counties] can still sue that person civilly and reduce that debt to a judgment and garnish wages just like you would in a civil court with a credit card debt or a medical bill.”

DeGroot worked closely with Kansas City representative Mark Ellebracht (D) on the legislation.

“I think it means a lot in terms of just fairness and justice and how the system works,” said Ellebracht, “because once a person gets put in jail, once they get sent down for 30 days, their time is their punishment. That’s the deal that we’ve made with people: we’re going to sentence you to 30 days … now with regard to what you owe the sheriff for their bill … you can’t pay that bill off if you’re in jail on a warrant for not paying that bill, so it just makes sense that the sheriff should have to collect that money through the normal debt collection processes like any other creditor would have to.”

DeGroot and Ellebracht both credit St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger for spurring the legislation with a series of articles he wrote about the current system. Those articles also earned Messenger a Pulitzer Prize.

In one case Messenger wrote about, a woman incurred more than $10,000 in “board bills” after stealing an $8 tube of mascara.

DeGroot said situations like that go against the principle of people who have paid their debt to society returning to being productive members of society, providing for themselves and their families, and getting back on the tax rolls.

“A bill like this, in my opinion, is win-win. Yes, it helps the people that would otherwise be burdened with these jail bills, but it also helps our entire society as a whole,” said DeGroot.

Representative Mark Ellebracht worked across the political aisle with Rep. DeGroot to end what many called modern ‘debtors prisons’ in Missouri. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

In presenting HB 192 DeGroot was the most visibly animated and joyful he has been in his three years in the legislature. He admits he was very enthused about the legislation.

“The reason I went to law school was I loved the book To Kill A Mockingbird … and I wanted to be Atticus Finch. I wanted to change the world, and after you graduate from law school you’ve got student debt, you have houses, and kids, and cars, and who knows what, trips to Disneyworld, and you forget about being Atticus Finch. Well now my kids are grown, and you don’t have quite the pressures you used to, and I view [House Bill 192] as probably the best thing I ever did with my law degree.”

Following their success with HB 192, Ellebracht said he and DeGroot are talking regularly about other topics they hope to team up on.

Ellebracht says any differences he and DeGroot have in party or other issues don’t really have any bearing on criminal justice reform, “When we’re looking at something and we’re saying to ourselves, ‘[Missouri law is] really handicapping a lot of folks in the economy by preventing them from getting good jobs, and [Missouri law is] really handicapping a lot of businesses by putting them in a position where they can’t afford to be hiring folks who have had that little minor scrape in their background, for fear of some kind of public retribution, or maybe a lawsuit here or there or something like that, so we need to figure out a way that we can adjust the way we do things so that it’s more fair for everybody involved.”

HB 192 also included language that would allow judges to waive mandatory minimum sentencing requirements for non-violent offenders who meet certain criteria.

Both provisions become effective August 28.

Earlier stories:

Legislature proposes reforms to end ‘debtor’s prisons,’ mandatory minimum sentences

House votes to prevent of jailing of Missourians for failing to pay jail bills

Legislature proposes reforms to end ‘debtor’s prisons,’ mandatory minimum sentences

The Legislature has approved bipartisan legislation that would keep Missourians from being put back in jail for failing to pay the costs of being put in jail; and would eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent crimes.

House Bill 192 aims to end charging prisoners board bills” for their stays in jail. Persons who don’t pay those bills can be required to come to a “show-cause” hearing and risk additional jail time. Lawmakers said this amounted to putting people in a “debtor’s prison.”

The bill would allow counties to seek to collect jail bills through civil means, with no threat of jail time. The House’s 138-11 vote on Monday sends that bill to Governor Mike Parson (R).

Bill sponsor Bruce DeGroot (R-Chesterfield) worked closely with Liberty Democrat Mark Ellebracht on the legislation. DeGroot said current law is putting Missourians who’ve committed minor crimes and who can’t afford to pay fines and boarding costs back in jail, where they only incur more boarding costs.

“The people who don’t pay their fines and court costs who got put in jail because they couldn’t afford to bond themselves out, and now all of a sudden they owe $1300 for their week in jail and fines and court costs, and then they come before the judge and the judge says, ‘You owe $1300,’ and they say, ‘I don’t have it,’ and he says, ‘Fine, come on back next month and have at least $100,’ so they come on back the next month and they don’t have it and the judge puts them in jail, or they don’t show because they can’t get a babysitter or they can’t get off work, or they do get off work and they get fired,” said DeGroot.

DeGroot said in one case, a woman who stole an $8 tube of mascara incurred more than $10,000 in “board bills.”

Representative Mark Ellebracht (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Ellebracht said the legislation is proof that opposing parties who often vehemently disagree can come together to do good things.

“We worked well together on this issue because we worked as colleagues and we respected each other’s opinion, and we made what I regard as a very, very good bill, and we are correcting a problem that a lot of people face in the State of Missouri,” said Ellebracht.

The Senate added to HB 192 legislation to allow judges to waive mandatory minimum sentencing requirements for non-violent offenders who meet certain criteria. That was the goal of House Bill 113, which the House passed in February, 140-17.

It was sponsored by Carthage Republican Cody Smith.

“It’s been shown in other red states like Texas and Oklahoma that if we change the way we treat folks – non-violent offenders – we can lead to better outcomes by keeping them out of prison, to the extent that that’s possible. It leads to better outcomes in their lives, their families’ lives. It leads to savings by not having people incarcerated in state prisons,” said Smith.

Springfield Republican Curtis Trent said both provisions speak to priorities that Governor Parson and Chief Justice Zel Fischer both spoke about when addressing the House and the Senate earlier this year.

“It’s a question of who we want in our prisons. Do we want people in our prisons who are mainly a threat to themselves – they have poor judgement – or do we want people in there who are truly a threat to society, who are predators, who are going to victimize other people, not just for minor, monetary amounts, but in ways that are truly life-altering, and I think those are the people who we want to prioritize,” said Trent.

It’s now up to Governor Parson whether HB 192 becomes law. If it does, it would take effect August 28.

Sweeping criminal justice reform package prepared for consideration

The House Speaker has said criminal justice reform is a priority in the remaining weeks of the session, and a bill containing several proposed reforms has just been compiled. It has the backing of a man made famous by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

Representative Shamed Dogan (left, in red tie) listens as Matthew Charles talks about his release under the federal First Step Act, and his support for HCB 2, the Missouri First Step Act. (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Committee Bill 2, also being called the Missouri First Step Act, was assembled by the House Special Committee on Criminal Justice. It is a compilation of several individual bills, some of which have already been passed by the House.

Trump featured Matthew Charles during his State of the Union Address. Charles is the first person released from prison under the federal First Step Act, a federal reform bill signed into law by Trump in December.

In 1996 Charles was sentenced to 35 years in prison for selling crack cocaine. In prison he turned his life around and earned an early release in 2016. Though he was living a productive life, a court decision overturned his release and sent him back to prison until he was released under the First Step Act.

He’s excited about a provision in HCB 2 that would let judges ignore mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent crimes in Missouri.

“It would allow the probation officer as well as the judge to make an assessment on the amount of time that needed to be imposed on somebody for that crime, or the amount of time they will actually serve for that offense, whereas rehabilitation has been taken away from prison for a long time,” said Charles.

The stand-alone mandatory minimum sentences legislation, House Bill 113 sponsored by Representative Cody Smith (R-Carthage), has been sent to the Senate and awaits a committee hearing.

HCB 2 will be carried by the committee’s chairman, Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin), who has been a proponent of criminal justice reform during his five years in the House.

“These measures are all evidence-based. They will all help us save enormous amounts of taxpayer money while also improving public safety, and they’ll give people who’ve made mistakes in their lives a chance to be treated with dignity while incarcerated and to have more of a chance of rebuilding their lives whenever they get out,” said Dogan.

HCB 2 would apply the state’s law restricting the use of restraints on pregnant offenders to county or city jails. That bars the use of restraints on a woman in the third trimester of pregnancy and through 48-hours after delivery while they’re being transported except in extraordinary circumstances, which must be documented and reviewed.

Representative Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold) sponsors that legislation (House Bill 1122). She said it’s about the safety of those offenders, but also of their babies.

“It’s making sure that when women are in labor, when women are in advanced stages of pregnancy, and when they have really no risk of harm that we’re really treating people as people and that we’re being appropriate as well,” said Coleman. “It’s not about trying to be lax on people who have committed crimes. They’re paying their costs, but a pregnant woman is very vulnerable and we want to make sure that she and her child are delivered safely.”

Representative Cheri Toalson Reisch (at podium) speaks about her portion of HCB 2, the Missouri First Step Act (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Another piece of HCB 2 coming from a bill sponsored by Coleman (House Bill 920) would require that feminine hygiene products are available to women being held in the state’s prisons or on state charges in county and city jails.

“That is not an issue that I expected to be tackling but you find out certain things and you think, ‘How is it possible that as a state we’re not providing adequate hygiene supplies to those who are in our care and custody?’” said Coleman.

Representative Cheri Toalson Reisch (R-Hallsville) sponsored House Bill 189, to allow people convicted of felonies to work in certain businesses that sell alcohol or lottery tickets, such as grocery or convenience stores. That is also included in HCB 2.

“Where I’m from in Boone County we have 1.5-percent unemployment. This is the second lowest in the country. We cannot find enough employees. We would like to put these felons to work,” said Toalson Reisch. “We need them to avoid recidivism and make better lives for themselves and their families.”

Two of the other pieces of HCB 2 would restrict the use of drug and alcohol testing by privately operated probation supervisors (House Bill 80 – Justin Hill, R-Lake St. Louis); and would keep courts from putting people in jail for failing to pay the costs associated with prior jail time (House Bill 192 – Bruce DeGroot, R-Chesterfield). Both of those stand-alone bills have been sent to the Senate for its consideration.

HCB 2 includes language to allow for the early parole of certain inmates over the age of 65 (House Bill 352, Tom Hannegan, R-St. Charles); to stop the confiscation of assets from a person who hasn’t been convicted of a crime (House Bill 444, Dogan); and to prohibit discriminatory policing (House Bill 484, Dogan).

HCB 2 awaits a hearing by a House committee before it can be sent to the full chamber for debate.

Earlier stories on two of the bills that are part of HCB 2:

House votes to prevent jailing of Missourians for failing to pay jail bills (HB 192)

Missouri House endorses elimination of mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent crimes (House Bill 113)

House votes to prevent jailing of Missourians for failing to pay jail bills

The Missouri House has voted to keep judges from putting people back in jail for failing to pay for the costs of keeping them in jail.

House Bill 192 would keep a person’s failure to pay a jail for housing that person, from resulting in more jail time that would result in additional housing costs. Instead, a local sheriff could attempt to collect such costs owed through civil proceedings, or a judge could waive those costs.

The legislation is sponsored by Chesterfield Republican Bruce DeGroot, who worked closely with Liberty Democrat Mark Ellebracht.

HB 192 has broad, bipartisan support, as members of both parties agreed that being jailed for failing to pay so-called “board bills” only created a cycle of debt that some Missourians have been trapped in for years. Legislators gave examples of individuals who had stolen items like makeup or candy, and years later owe tens of thousands of dollars to the local jails that had housed them.

“It just seems so contradictory that I can’t pay a $1000 bill, so you put me back in jail, so that when I get back out of jail now my bill is $1,500. It just seemed to keep going for forever,” said Representative Deb Lavender (D-Kirkwood).

“In my opinion the goal of the criminal justice system … if you do something wrong, you should be punished. On the other hand, once you’ve completed your punishment, once you’ve served your time in jail, man, the goal ought to be to get those people back out into society [to] be productive of society, paying for their families, rather than have them in jail dodging warrant servers, and get them back on the tax roll,” said DeGroot.

Ellebracht stressed that these “board bills” are not the same thing as court costs or fines that might be assessed against a defendant.

“When somebody gets thrown in jail, their time is their punishment. That’s the point of it … but the money that’s accrued for your care – for your food, your clothing, the shelter over your head that the county’s providing – that’s money owed for a service provided incidental to your punishment,” said Ellebracht. “So, the sheriff has every right to collect that money … they just don’t have a right to keep bringing you back to court and throwing you in jail, thereby accruing more board bills to do so.”

DeGroot said he doesn’t fault the judges in the state who have been jailing individuals over board bills.

Representative Mark Ellebracht (photo; Tim Bommel, House Communications)

“The judges in the counties that practiced this way, I think, are all trying to reform themselves now because they know that not only [the legislature] but the Supreme Court has an appetite right now for curbing this kind of behavior,” said DeGroot, “but they were just, in my opinion, just using the tools that they had available to them. They didn’t know how else to collect, because the threat of jail time is much more severe than, ‘We’re going to take your stuff.’”

HB 192 would do away with hearings in which the court requires a defendant to show why he or she shouldn’t be jailed for failing to pay board bills. Lawmakers heard that defendants are often required to appear monthly for such hearings and a warrant is issued for them if they fail to appear.

The bill is supported by a number of groups including the Missouri State Public Defender, the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

The House voted 156-1 to send the bill to the Senate for its consideration.