People-Centered Progress: Bedford Hills Correctional Facility

The debut episode of the Corrections Connections docuseries goes inside Bedford Hills Correctional Facility — New York’s only maximum-security prison for women — for a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the nation’s oldest prison nursery program and the innovative initiatives supporting motherhood, education and successful reentry. In the episode:

1. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III provides an overview of the nursery program’s history services (1:12)
2. Dr. Althea Taylor, executive director of New York-based nonprofit Hour Children, talks about operating the nursery in partnership with the Department (3:36)
3. Nursery manager Lindsey Daniel and clinical social worker and therapist Lisi Robinson describe how the mothers within the nursery support each other (5:37)
4. Incarcerated mothers share their own views on how the program has impacted them (8:54) and outline the doula training offered within the nursery (10:46)
5. Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison President Sean Pica describes how the educational programs enable incarcerated students to earn degrees and serve as ambassadors to others (15:58)
6. Some of those student ambassadors share their own stories about the fulfillment they get from helping others reach their goals (18:39)
7. Bedford Hills staff and incarcerated women attest to the feelings of hope, pride and accomplishment these programs give them (22:46)