Rehabilitation Programs Division

Baby and Mother Bonding Initiative (BAMBI)

The mission of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Baby and Mother Bonding Initiative (BAMBI) shall be to provide an opportunity for mother and child bonding and attachment, which is important to healthy growth and development, socialization, and psychological development during the infant’s formative years, while in a safe and secure environment.

Program:

The Rehabilitation Programs Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, along with the Correctional Institutions Division and the Health Services Division is collaborating with the University of Texas Medical Branch to provide a bonding program for eligible inmates who are pregnant at reception and deliver during their current incarceration.

The program allows inmate mothers and their newborns time to form a healthy attachment in a secure setting. The inmate receives child development education, life skills, infant first aid and CPR, nutrition, peer recovery, cognitive skills, anger management and family reunification sessions. Additional programming may include substance abuse education and GED classes.

Program Goals:

• Increase the female inmate’s self-development;
• Increase social and cognitive competencies for both mother and child;
• Provide for the development of a positive and productive relationship between mother and child;
• Enhance parenting and nurturing skills and abilities of incarcerated mothers;
• Develop the mother’s empathy and ability to place another’s need above self;
• Provide prompt, loving, and consistent care for infants to develop their sense of trust; and
• Support healthy mother-infant attachment.

The BAMBI Program will allow the mother and infant to bond in the residential facility for up to 12 months (longer stays may be considered on a case-by-case basis). Both will release from the facility once she has completed her sentence, assisted by an individualized transitional release plan that will be developed during their stay.

Contacts:

Audrey Trout, Manager II – Female Programs
TDCJ - Rehabilitation Programs Division
PO Box 99
Huntsville, Texas 77342
Phone: (936) 437-7277
Fax: (936) 437-7326