MARYSVILLE, Ohio — For the first year of her life, 2-year-old Amia Kamer lived behind a chain-link fence at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, where her mother was serving 17 months on theft of drugs charge.
The all-women prison is the only one in the state with a nursery, where mothers who are pregnant at the time of incarceration and serving less than three years on minor charges can raise their newborn children to promote family bonding. The prison recently unveiled its newly built, $2 million nursery at a ceremony.
Amia’s mother, Courtney Kuiper of Wood County, was one of several women who has successfully completed the Achieving Baby Care Success program (ABC) at the prison. She was invited back to share how it had “the hugest impact of my life.”
The 26-year-old was initially sentenced to a year of probation in 2015 for stealing five Oxycodone pills, but she ended up at ORW after several violations. She had lost custody of her oldest daughter, KJ Kuiper, now 6, when she was arrested and learned she was about to become a mother again.
Ms. Kuiper raised Amia in the nursery while participating in all of her other mandatory programs and getting a degree. More than a year later, she runs an area hotel and has regained custody of her oldest daughter. The girls clung to their mother’s side while she credited the program with transforming their lives.
The Hope House, as it’s called, is meant to do just that: provide hope to expectant mothers. Warden Teri Baldauf called it the “ultimate opportunity to engage in family.”
It aids mothers in rearing, with programs on breastfeeding, postpartum counseling and weekly appointments with a pediatrician. it also teaches them other life skills, such as cooking, budgeting and navigating social programs to support them post-release.
“We need to provide hope to these women and children so that they can be successful,” warden Baldauf said.
The reformatory has had a nursery since 2001, but the expanded facility can accommodate up to 26 mothers. It also closes other safety gaps posed by the old unit, which was near intake and exposed children to the entire population through a large window.
The nursery houses three mothers and their babies, but officials say more are on the way. It has been home to up to 12 new mothers at a time in the past, they said.
Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine, a mother of eight herself, recommended adding a rocking chair to the breastfeeding room and praised the program for allowing women to serve their time with dignity while helping them to become better mothers.
Shelby Nelsen, another successful participant, reinforced that message, saying the nursery “helped to mold me into a good mother,” after her conviction on drug trafficking and possession of criminal tools charges.
Mya Stump, 34, plans to keep that success going.
The mother of three was in the Darke County Jail for stealing fentanyl from the fire department where she worked as an EMT when she learned her third child, Oaklee Burke, was on the way. She already had a strained relationship with her older children, 10 and 7, and wondered who would care for Oaklee.
The answer? She would.
Through the ABC program, she has been able to breastfeed and set the rules for her daughter’s care. She and Oaklee are scheduled to be released on the 24th.
“They let me do the mothering,” Ms. Stump said. “It makes me want that relationship more — to reunify with my other children.”
First Published September 16, 2019, 11:30 a.m.
