Joining Incarcerated Mothers with Their Children: Evaluation of the Lancaster Visiting Cottage Program: Executive Summary

The Lancaster Visiting Cottage Program, located at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Lancaster, was implemented to allow children to visit overnight with their incarcerated mothers. It was hoped that the program would reunite mothers with their children, help them to maintain or re-establish close ties, and prepare mothers for their eventual release. A process evaluation was conducted of the program's first year in operation. The evaluation found that, during the first year, there were 111 extended visits between 30 inmate mothers and 51 of their children. Most of the visits occurred on weekends and usually lasted two nights. The majority of visits involved a mother and a single child. The mothers participating in the program averaged an extended program visit every 42 days. Although the program was implemented smoothly as planned, the level of participation expected by program planners was higher than the actual level of participation achieved in the first year. This evaluation report highlights some of the staff and inmate theories regarding the low participation rate and presents a statistical analysis of frequent participants, infrequent participants, and nonparticipants. The evaluation also presents information on inmate mothers who participated in the program, citing significant differences in the backgrounds and needs of long-term versus short-term inmates. This information should be useful in future program and policy planning. (Author/NB)