as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/26/2018 05:46pm
A bill for an act
relating to corrections; establishing the Mama's Bus pilot project to provide parent
and child bonding and literacy for incarcerated women and their children;
appropriating money.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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The commissioner of corrections shall award a grant to unPrison
Project to develop and implement Mama's Bus pilot project to decrease the risk of recidivism
of women incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility - Shakopee and provide a
stable nurturing relationship for the women's children by providing transportation for mother
and child visits organized around reading activities to improve inmate and child literacy
and parent and child bonding. The pilot project is from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2021.
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The goals of the pilot project are to:
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(1) decrease the number of children requiring community, county, and state services;
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(2) help close the achievement gap of children in schools;
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(3) promote positive behavioral changes of children in the classroom, community, and
home;
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(4) decrease recidivism of incarcerated women;
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(5) increase the number of women contributing to the community; and
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(6) break the generational cycle of incarceration in families.
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By September 1, 2021, unPrison Project must report to
the chairs and ranking minority members of the house of representatives and senate
committees with jurisdiction over corrections on the development, implementation, impact,
and outcomes of the pilot project.
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$316,309 in fiscal year 2019 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of corrections for a grant to unPrison Project for the Mama's Bus pilot project under section
1. This appropriation is available until expended.
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