Guidelines for the Implementation of Mother-Child Units in Canadian Correctional Facilities

Project Funding: First Nations Health Authority, Interior Health Authority, Native Youth Sexual Health Network, University of the Fraser Valley Centre for Safe Schools and Communities, Vancouver Island Health Authority, Women’s Health Research Institute, Provincial Health Services Authority.

Project Period: 2014-2015

CCPHE developed the Guidelines following the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruling in the case of Inglis v. British Columbia (Ministry of Public Safety) 2013 BCSC 2309. The Guidelines describe the administrative principles, and includes internationally sourced best practices for Mother-Child Units (MCU’s), while also recommending that every effort should be made for women to receive care in the community and to find alternatives to incarceration. The Guidelines describe basic principles of care that are required for optimal child and maternal health for the correctional context, during pregnancy, birth, and the first two years of life. The Guidelines describe the collaborative interdisciplinary, inter-agency approach that is essential to promote stability and continuity for mother-child health and bonding to build strong parental relationships in and beyond the correctional facility.  Delegates from 40 organizations collaborated in the development of these internationally unique Guidelines during two days’ of working meetings at the University of British Columbia, CCPHE, and was followed by multiple rounds for editing and input by all meeting delegates. Twenty-three international and national organizations have endorsed these Guidelines. The Guidelines have been mailed to every Canadian MP, every provincial/territorial Minister of Justice, Health and Child Protection, and to every Canadian women’s correctional facility.

Guidelines for the Implementation of Mother-Child Units in Canadian Correctional Facilities: English version | French version