Please attribute the following statement on the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s lactation pilot program to Melissa Goodman, senior staff attorney and director of the LGBTQ, Gender Equity and Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU SoCal):
We are very pleased to see the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department take this important and humane step toward meeting the needs of lactating parents. Every major health organization recommends breastfeeding and recognizes its overwhelming health benefits for parent and child.
The ACLU of Southern California worked with the sheriff’s department over the past year to significantly reform their policies and practices with respect to pregnant people in their care, and this program is a key part of that reform. We are confident that the program will be a success and that it will greatly benefit everyone involved. That success will surely lead to expanding the program to all facilities in the county where lactating people are held and making it permanent.
We will continue to monitor this program and other reforms to ensure real change is sustained. We hope other counties will take note and consider following L.A. County’s example because most jails in California do not allow the children of incarcerated people to enjoy the vast benefits of breastfeeding or allow parents the benefits of breastfeeding and pumping milk.
Contact:
Sandra Hernandez, 213.977.5247, shernandez@aclusocal.org Melissa Goodman, 213.977.5288, mgoodman@aclusocal.org