Nursery to be established within a Missouri women’s prison by July 2025

The Missouri Department of Corrections is required to establish a nursery within a Missouri women’s prison no later than July 2025 as a result of a bill  signed into law on Friday by Gov. Mike Parson.

On the final day of session, Missouri solons approved a bill that helped create the “Correctional Center Nursery Program.”

The program will allow infants born to women in prison to remain with their mothers for the first 18 months of their lives.

Lawmakers provided $495,000 to the Department of Corrections to pay for the Correctional Center Nursery Program. The state also will be able to accept donations and grants monies to fund the effort.

Similar programs exist in less than a dozen states. Studies have shown they contribute to reduced recidivism rates

The underlying bill that included the Nursery Program included language that codified Parson’s executive order last year that created a new Office of Childhood within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).