WEEKLY EDITORIAL RECAP

Tuesday

Baby talk

Bureaucracies aren't known for moving quickly. That's why it was heartening to see Gov. Jim Gibbons act with urgency last week to alter a state Department of Corrections policy regarding inmates who give birth behind bars.

Previously, the department simply allowed an inmate to choose who would care for her baby. There was precious little investigation into whether the chosen caregiver was up to the task.

The problem with such an approach was highlighted earlier this month when authorities received a tip that a 3-year-old girl taken into custody during a Wisconsin drug bust might have been the child of a Nevada prison inmate. DNA tests are being conducted to determine whether that is indeed the case.

Meanwhile, prison authorities said they had few records on the inmate's pregnancy or the identity of the guardian to whom the baby was entrusted.

On Friday, however, Gov. Gibbons issued new regulations designed to avoid a repeat. The rules require the state Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate with the Department of Corrections to "ensure that infants born to our inmates are placed in safe environments," the governor said.

That means a prison social worker will now coordinate child placements with the mother. Potential foster parents must undergo a criminal background check. If no suitable caregiver is found, the state will work with local government agencies to find a home for the child until the mother is released.

Family members should still have preference. But the new rules make sense and are long overdue.