What's happening
This bill creates a three-year pilot program to place incarcerated parents in prisons closer to their minor children to support family contact and reduce recidivism.
Why it matters
Supports child well-being and family stability. By prioritizing incarcerated parents’ placement near their minor children, the program aims to foster regular visitation and maintain parent-child bonds, which research links to better outcomes for children and families during and after incarceration.
Targets recidivism and reentry success. The bill is rooted in evidence that family contact reduces the likelihood of re-offending, potentially lowering future incarceration rates and associated costs by supporting inmates’ reintegration into their home communities.
Imposes strict eligibility and safeguards. Not all incarcerated parents qualify—those convicted of sex offenses, crimes against children, or parole violations are excluded, and families must show a willingness and ability to visit. This targets resources toward situations where increased contact is safe and likely to be beneficial.
Requires data collection and reporting. Annual reports will assess the pilot’s effects on inmates’ behavior, family relationships, child well-being, and institutional safety, with a focus on whether the program should be continued, expanded, or modified, ensuring oversight and evidence-based policy decisions.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Keep Inmates Near Families
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Recommit, enacting clause stricken
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Let Inmates Stay Near Family
In Assembly Committee · Correction · Sponsor Marcos Crespo
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1096
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 6, 2017
Introduced by Sens. RIVERA, AVELLA, MONTGOMERY, PARKER, PERKINS, STAVI- SKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing the pilot project for the placement of inmates close to home; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "pilot project for the placement of inmates close to home".
§ 2. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds and declares that research shows inmates who maintain family ties during incarceration have lower rates of recidivism than inmates who do not. Further, most inmates are parents, and more than 80,000 children in the state of New York have a parent incarcerated in the state prison system.
The legislature further finds that the department of corrections and community supervision should consider proximity to minor children among the key criteria of security and health and program needs when determining prison assignments and transfers of parents, and should support increased access of children to their incarcerated parents through the use of technology and programs currently available within the department.
The legislature therefore declares that there is a need to develop classification criteria that would place inmates in proximity to their family members and home communities, and in particular for those inmates who are parents of minor children in the appropriate correctional facility located closest to those children provided such placement is otherwise appropriate and suitable, and would facilitate increased contact between such inmate and his or her child or children.
§ 3. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 72-c to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02115-01-7
S. 1096 2
§ 72-c. Pilot project for the placement of inmates close to home. 1. The commissioner shall establish a pilot program at a designated correctional facility for the purpose of housing inmates who are parents of minor children in the correctional facility which is located in closest proximity to the primary place of residence of any such inmate's minor child or children under eighteen years of age, provided that such placement is otherwise suitable and appropriate pursuant to the regulations of the department and would facilitate increased contact between such inmate and his or her child or children. For purposes of this pilot program, there shall be a maximum of one hundred male and female inmates, who on a voluntary basis request placement in the pilot program and who are parents of minor children. In selecting such inmates the department shall consult with the office of children and family services and the local district of social services located in the county where such inmate's child resides to determine if any reasons exist, such as no visitation order, that may prevent the inmate from participating in the pilot program. If the inmate's child and/or family is subject to the preview of the office of children and family services or a local social services district, the department shall consult with the assigned agency to determine whether the child and/or family is suitable for participation in the pilot program, and, if so, collaborate with such agency to obtain information relating to such child and/or family as shall be necessary to determine the effectiveness of the pilot program.
2. The commissioner, in consultation with appropriate community organizations, shall submit within one year of the effective date of this section and annually thereafter a report to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on the effectiveness of this pilot project. Such reports shall include an analysis of the impact on the inmate, including factors such as institutional adjustment, behavior infractions, and program participation, among related relevant factors, and on his or her children and family participants. The reports shall also include analysis of factors such as frequency of visits, reports from caregivers about children's connectedness to their incarcerated parents, children's emotional well-being and behavior in the home, and other relevant factors as included in the caregiver's reports. For child welfare cases, in addition to the above factors, progress toward permanency goals, parent's participation in case planning, and other relevant factors shall be noted. In cases where an inmate parent's release is imminent, as determined by the commissioner, the report shall examine the level of support received and provided by the inmate's family through family involvement and the attachment between a returning parent and his or her children upon reunification. The reports shall also include such impact on institutional safety and performance and any recommendations for additional legislative enactments that may be needed or required, to improve, enhance and subsequently expand the program to other correctional facilities as determined to be appropriate by the commissioner. In compiling such reports, the commissioner may establish and utilize a control group and, if he or she fails to do so, the commissioner shall include an explanation as to why a control group was not used.
3. No person shall have the right to demand or require participation in the pilot project authorized by this section. The commissioner may revoke at any time participation in such project for any serious disciplinary infraction committed by the inmate or for any failure to continue to participate successfully in any assigned work and treatment program after placement in such pilot program.
S. 1096 3
4. An eligibility preference shall be granted for child welfare cases. Admission shall be granted on a rolling basis and priority shall be given to inmates who were primary caregivers, although all inmate parents shall be considered. The families of inmates shall submit demonstrated proof that they will visit the inmate if the person lives closer, and the inmate shall request that such family members submit letters. Other relevant factors shall be taken into consideration, including but not limited to, whether an inmate's family member has an undue hardship that would affect the person's ability to visit the inmate. Such hardship shall include, but not be limited to, a physical disability or serious illness that inhibits travel, or whether they would not be able to reasonably visit the inmate because they would be unable to visit by public transportation and cannot afford or use a motor vehicle. Any action by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall be deemed a judicial function and shall not be reviewable if done in accordance with law.
5. Inmates shall not be eligible for this program for a variety of factors, as listed in, but not limited to, those enumerated in this section. Inmates who are incarcerated for violating parole or conditional release shall be ineligible for this program. Inmates who were convicted of a sex offense shall be ineligible for this program. Inmates who have committed a crime against a child shall be ineligible for this program. Inmates for whom a closer location would not lead to more visitors shall not be eligible for this program. Inmates who have not had contact with their children in over a year out of their own volition shall not be eligible for this program, unless there is a compelling reason for not having had contact with their children. The commissioner is empowered to grant preference to more involved inmate parents, as determined by the amount of contact that the children have with their parents, should the commissioner determine to do so. Inmates who would ordinarily be sent to a stricter security level prison shall not, unless compelling reasons shall suggest otherwise, be sent to a lighter security prison because of proximity on the basis of this program. Mental health issues shall not be an issue of ineligibility with regard to this program, unless there is a compelling reason to do so.
§ 4. This act shall take effect six months after it shall have become a law and shall expire 3 years after it shall take effect when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed repealed. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date is authorized to be made on or before such date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing the pilot project for the placement of inmates close to home; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
Purpose
To conduct a pilot program placing certain inmates in facilities closer to the communities where their children reside
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill is the name of this act which shall be the "pilot project for placement of inmates close to home."
Read the full memo (1,010 words)
Section two of the bill is the legislative intent.
Section three of this bill establishes the pilot program in a facility of the Department of Corrections' choosing which will house inmate volunteers whose minor children reside close to the facility in order to facilitate visitation between the inmate parent and his or her child. The Office of Children and Family Services and/or the local district social services offices will be consulted as to the appropriateness of visitation before any inmate is admitted to the program. Further, a comprehensive analysis is required to determine the effectiveness of this pilot and make recommendations, if any, for expansion and improvement.
Section four is the effective date.
Justification
Approximately 59% of all New York state prison and jail inmates are parents.For women under custody in New York the number is loser to 71%. More than 80,000 minor children in New York State have a parent incarcerated in a state prison. Transportation provides a major barrier to visitation.
Inmates are often placed in prisons far from their children and far from home. Male inmates at Lakeview Correctional Facility who come from New York City are more than 400 miles from home, while female inmates at Albion are around 375 miles from New York City. Distances are large and public transportation is difficult, especially with the termination of the longstanding DOGS free bus program that provided visitors with transportation to remote prisons from sites around the state.
For children in foster care, distance is the number one barrier to legally mandated visits with their incarcerated parents. Social service agencies are required to maintain contact with incarcerated parents (except in cases where a court has ruled otherwise) including bringing children for visits with parents in prison. When the goal is reunification the requirement to provide visits extends to the tri-state area. Non-compliance is routine in large part because of the distance. Given the caseloads and demands on child welfare workers, it is difficult to take a whole day or two for one parent-child visit. As a result, children in foster care with incarcerated parents suffer greatly from lack of parental contact. Without visits, an incarcerated parent is at great risk for termination of his or her parental rights, the permanent legal severing of the parent-child relationship. Recent studies have emphasized the importance of visits and family ties in the prevention of recidivism. One study found that every visit a prisoner received measurably and increasingly lowered the likelihood of recidivism. Visits by relatives, including children, seem to matter most when it comes to reducing recidivism, creating a significant public safety benefit to supporting the maintenance of parent-child and other ties during incarceration.
Children who have parents in prison are significantly affected by the frequency and quality of contact with their parents. While there are instances when visits are not in children's best interest, for most children visits are beneficial to their psychological and emotional well-being, their physical health and development, and can help smooth the reentry process and family reunification. Children of incarcerated parents are recognized as an at-risk population and parental incarceration is now included as an ACE factor, as "Adverse Childhood Experience," that can negatively affect children's development. The risks for children associated with having an incarcerated parent can be significantly mitigated by the continuing presence of the parent in the child's life, through visitation, telephone contact, and letters. The number one way to promote visiting is by reducing the distances between the incarcerated parent and their children.
While the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision normally places inmates in prisons based on classification by security level and programmatic needs, this pilot program will explore the use of a third criterion, proximity to an inmate's minor children. The purpose of this act is to establish a pilot program to assess the effects of housing inmates who are parents of minor children close to home in order to facilitate visitation between such parents and their children. The department will select 60 inmate volunteers to be housed in a facility closest to the communities where their children reside where such facility is an otherwise appropriate placement for them.
The department will be required to report to the legislature and the governor on the effectiveness of the pilot program and make recommendations for expansion to other correctional facilities in order to place more inmates close to their families and minor children. Should the pilot program prove beneficial, the expectation is that the program will be broadened to allow more inmates to be housed in close proximity to their home communities, thus facilitating visitation and contacts with their children and other family members.
This bill also calls for an independent, academic analysis of the effect of the pilot program prepared in consultation. with the department. Such analysis will report on the impact, if any, the placement of such inmates closest to the communities where their children reside has had on the inmates themselves, the safety and security of the facility, the foster care case and local social service agency, if applicable, and, where possible, on the family members and children involved as well as any other effect of the program that can be measured. The report shall include recommendations as to the future of the program and what modifications would be recommended in order to improve implementation and outcomes.
Legislative history
2014: S1789A 2015-2016: 51474
Fiscal implications
None.
Local fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect six months after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.