After three years of planning and retrofitting, the women’s prison at Vandalia is expected to open a nursery in February that can serve up to 14 mothers and their babies for 18 months at a time. Space at the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center includes cribs, infant bathing rooms, designated areas for educational sessions, kitchen space for heating up bottles, and seven rooms for the inmates and their newborns.
The first women are expected to move into the program next week. The inside of the nursery, which is on prison grounds but separate from the main prison community, is starkly different from the rest of the facility. The floors are soft, made for tiny feet learning to walk, and colorful artwork on the walls is meant for little eyes.
The MCC supported the legislation, which passed in 2022, and had rare and overwhelming bipartisan support, receiving only one vote in opposition among the state’s 163 representatives and 34 senators.
Further details of the nursery and its services can be found here at the Missouri Independent.