title: Visiting Mom: A pilot evaluation of a prison-based visiting program serving incarcerated mothers and their minor children.
abstract: We describe an evaluation of a prison visiting program, Extended Visiting (EV), for incarcerated mothers and their children. Mothers (N= 24) and caregivers (N= 19) were interviewed regarding experiences with the program. Mothers identified benefits including maintaining a relationship with children, physical contact, motivation, privacy, peer support, and personal growth. Caregivers echoed mothers' appreciation for the opportunity to maintain mother-child relationships and physical contact. Mothers identified barriers including desire for overnight visits and more age-appropriate activities. Caregivers perceived travel time and costs and children's adverse reactions as barriers. When comparing EV to typical visiting, participants unanimously preferred EV.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Erin C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.affiliation: Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duininck
authors.affiliation: Medical School, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Shlafer
keywords: children of incarcerated parents; parenting; program evaluation; qualitative research; visitation