MN HF4014

Commissioner of corrections shall award a grant to unPrison Project to develop and implement the Mama's Bus pilot project at Minnesota Correctional Facility - Shakopee from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2021.

Pilot project provides transportation for mother and child visits organized around reading activities to improve inmate and child literacy and strengthen parent-child bonding while decreasing recidivism risk.

Project goals include reducing children's need for community and state services, closing achievement gaps in schools, decreasing recidivism of incarcerated women, and breaking generational cycles of incarceration in families.

unPrison Project must submit a report by September 1, 2021, to legislative committees with jurisdiction over corrections detailing the pilot project's development, implementation, impact, and outcomes.

$316,309 in fiscal year 2019 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of corrections for the grant, with funds available until expended.