More than 96,000 women are currently in state and federal prisons, and their numbers are increasing dramatically. Between 70% and 90% of these women are mothers, the majority of whom were primary caretakers of their minor children prior to incarceration. Women who become incarcerated are at high risk for contracting HIV given their histories of sex work, multiple concurrent partners, exchange of sex for drugs, and numerous sexually transmitted diseases. Of note, children may be an important motivator for an incarcerated woman, serving as reason for her to change and as a driving force behind her rehabilitation. As the average sentence for incarcerated women is approximately 6 months and recidivism is common, movement between prison and home community is frequent. Women leaving prisons face a number of challenges upon community re-entry including reunification with their children, resumption of maternal roles and duties, and a host of exigent needs such as obtaining assistance with housing and finances, and managing interpersonal issues. Finally, because released inmates generally return to their home communities, women who were incarcerated for crimes related to HIV risk behaviors often return to the environments in which they are at risk for HIV infection. Unfortunately, very few comprehensive programs are designed either to limit HIV risk upon release or to manage the intricacies of family re-unification. The proposed study will assess the needs of incarcerated women regarding parenting, family re-unification and HIV risk-reduction; evaluate community resources; and assess a parenting program for prison mothers. The study will provide the knowledge needed to develop a large scale intervention that reduces the HIV risk in women prisoners, facilitates their successful reentry into the community, and strengthens family ties. The study will follow 3 cohorts of 20 women each through the Prison Match parenting program to release from prison and re-unification with their families. Women, their children, and their children's caretakers will be assessed at entry into the program (i.e. immediately prior to the parenting classes), at the end of the classes, during the period of parent-child visits, and approximately 1 and 3 months following release from prison. In addition to assessing the needs of these incarcerated women and their families, we will also characterize the resources available in the Communities to which they return. Data sources include an in-depth, semi- structured interview, survey questionnaires, a community assessment, and videotaped mother-child observations. Data will be collected at enrollment into the study (T1), during an in-prison mother-child visit (T2), and at 1 month (T3) and 3 months (T4) after release. ? ? ?
