Mandi Grammer heard the good news while sitting in a counselor’s office at Decatur Correctional Center, where she was incarcerated in a special wing that houses mothers and their newborn babies.
“She said the governor wanted us out,” Grammer, 34, said. “They said they want you out as soon as possible, and it is due to the pandemic that is going on.”
Four hours later, Grammer’s mother was at the Illinois prison to pick up her and her 5-month-old daughter, Brenleigh.
“Oh my goodness, there was no words,” Grammer said Friday morning from her mother’s home in downstate Illinois. “It almost hasn’t set in yet, the reality of coming home. It’s amazing.”
Grammer is one of at least six women who were released over the past week from the Decatur wing as the coronavirus pandemic raised fears the disease will take hold in the prison system, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections
As of Friday, seven inmates and six staff members of the state’s prison system had tested positive for the virus, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections website.
The department released no other details about the women, and did not say whether it plans to release any others among the 40,000 inmates incarcerated in Illinois prisons because of the coronavirus threat.
The “Moms and Babies” wing at Decatur was designed for mothers who give birth while incarcerated so they can remain with their babies until they turn 2. The wing also houses mothers who are preparing to return home, providing extended reunification visits with their children.
Alexis Mansfield, a senior adviser at the Women’s Justice Institute, said her group is working with IDOC to make sure released mothers and pregnant women have the necessities at home to care for their children and themselves.
Mansfield celebrated the releases.
“When these moms found out, it gave them great relief,” Mansfield said. “This is a great first step. We need to see many, many more people out of prison to make sure people are safe both inside and outside. This is a public health issue.”
Among the pressing issues for all incarcerated women, Mansfield said, is that many of them have children at home who are being cared for by aging grandparents who are in a high-risk category for contracting the virus.
“I am really happy that they have released the moms and babies, and I hope this continues onto all people, especially caregivers,” Mansfield said. “So many children are cared for by grandparents in their mothers’ absences. We need moms home to care for their children.”
Several advocates are calling for a wider release, considering the damage that could be done inside a cramped prison where social distancing is difficult if not impossible. Access to adequate health care, and enough soap and sanitization, is also a worry.
Grammer had been held at the Logan Correctional Center until she gave birth in October last year, when she and her baby were transferred to the special wing at Decatur. As Grammer learned more about the coronavirus, she said she became worried about her daughter being exposed by guards coming in and out of the facility.
“I had watched a little bit of the news,” she said. “I just knew how contagious it was, how important it was to stay distant and to keep the baby away.”
Grammer said she had been scheduled to be released from her three-year sentence on retail theft in June. She was granted good conduct time and is now on home detention, wearing an ankle monitor, until April 10, she said.
As for not leaving the house, she said that is no problem, given the pandemic. “It works out because we can’t go anywhere anyway,” she said.
Meanwhile, the mother of three said it has been a joy to watch her two other children, a 10-year-old boy and 5-year-old daughter, hold Brenleigh for the first time.
“They had come to visit, but it was the first time they held her and got to get on the floor and play with her,” Grammer said. “They have just had a ball with her.”
