§ 12242. Definitions

- **(A)** is used only for eligible offenders and their children under 7 years of age;
- **(B)** is not within the confines of a jail or prison;
- **(C)** houses no more than 50 prisoners in addition to their children; and
- **(D)** provides to inmates and their children—
  - **(i)** a safe, stable, environment for children;
  - **(ii)** pediatric and adult medical care consistent with medical standards for correctional facilities;
  - **(iii)** programs to improve the stability of the parent-child relationship, including educating parents regarding—
- **(I)** child development; and (II) household management;
  - **(iv)** alcoholism and drug addiction treatment for prisoners; and
  - **(v)** programs and support services to help inmates—
- **(I)** to improve and maintain mental and physical health, including access to counseling; (II) to obtain adequate housing upon release from State incarceration; (III) to obtain suitable education, employment, or training for employment; and (IV) to obtain suitable child care. “eligible offender” means a primary caretaker parent who—
- **(A)** has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not more than 7 years or is awaiting sentencing for a conviction punishable by such a term of imprisonment; and
- **(B)** has not engaged in conduct that—
  - **(i)** knowingly resulted in death or serious bodily injury;
  - **(ii)** is a felony for a crime of violence against a person; or
  - **(iii)** constitutes child neglect or mental, physical, or sexual abuse of a child. “primary caretaker parent” means—
- **(A)** a parent who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, and safety of a child prior to incarceration; or
- **(B)** a woman who has given birth to a child after or while awaiting her sentencing hearing and who expresses a willingness to assume responsibility for the housing, health, and safety of that child, a parent who, in the best interest of a child, has arranged for the temporary care of the child in the home of a relative or other responsible adult shall not for that reason be excluded from the category “primary caretaker”. “State” means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.