Sheryl Pimlott Kubiak, PhD is an associate professor in the Department of Social Work at Michigan State University. Her research interests are at the intersections of criminal justice, mental health and substance abuse, encompassing both individual as well as systems issues.
Kubiak has assessed the implications of welfare reform on women with drug convictions; analyzed the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on the treatment outcomes of incarcerated men and women; and assessed systems interface between criminal justice and substance abuse and/or mental health treatment at local, state and national levels. Currently, she is piloting a brief mental health screening measure and process for use in a large metropolitan jail and evaluating a mental health court. Upcoming projects include interventions involving case management and advocacy for women leaving jail and prison, as well as assisting criminal justice personnel and institutions in becoming more “trauma informed.”
Kubiak is a 2002 graduate of the joint degree program in psychology and women’s studies at the University of Michigan and a National Institute of Mental Health pre-doctoral fellow in gender and mental health. She also earned her MSW at the University of Michigan.
Presentation: Facilitating Parenting for Incarcerated Women: Outcomes of a Model Program for Pregnant Incarcerated Women
This presentation focuses on the outcomes of a demonstration project that kept incarcerated mothers and their infants together in an alternative setting and compared the intervention group with a group of mothers that remained in prison. Over the long term, mothers in the treatment group were less likely to be arrested or convicted post-birth, but more likely to have their parental rights terminated. Overall, two-thirds of children born to these incarcerated mothers remain in their legal custody after 10 years. For these children, there has been little foster care involvement and evidence that family/friends are providing informal support. Although felony offenses and incarceration are rare and serious occurrences for women, it is not prohibitive to resuming and continuing their parenting role. The complexity of the data, and the lives of these mothers and their children, argues for more nuanced decision-making. Social workers have a role in supporting relationships between parents and children during their incarceration/reentry and in strengthening an informal network of support.
