Advocates’ perspectives on the Canadian prison mother child program

Aims: Over twenty years ago, Correctional Services Canada launched the Mother Child Program (MCP) to mitigate harms of separating incarcerated mothers from their babies. It has never been subjected to internal evaluation or independent study. The aim of the qualitative study was to explore the experiences of advocates employed by Elizabeth Fry Societies (EFS), community organizations dedicated to the support of incarcerated women, with respect to supporting people who were pregnant or had young children while federally incarcerated and did or did not participate in the MCP. Design: This study uses a qualitative design, rooted in abolition feminism. Methods: Data were collected between 2020 and 2021 through semi-structured interviews with twelve people employed by EFS in advocacy roles. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Respondents described supporting clients who experience the trauma of repeated separation from their children, increased vulnerability to child protection services, inadequate health care, and the conflict between addressing immediate harms and resisting prison expansion. Conclusion: Advocates working for EFS have an in-depth understanding of the complex factors underlying client participation in the MCP. Findings point to the urgent need to address the inadequacy of the MCP as a solution to parental incarceration. Impact: Although we make recommendations related to recognizing the impact of maternal incarceration on children and families, improving access to perinatal care, and collecting data on the number of children affected by parental incarceration, our overarching recommendation is to question if expanding the MCP is the best possible recourse to the trauma of maternal criminalization. Patient or public contribution: This study was designed in consultation with advocates working for Elizabeth Fry Societies with experience supporting people who had been pregnant or parenting while federally incarcerated, and people with lived experience of being pregnant or parenting while federally incarcerated.