Elaine Roulet

Sister Elaine Margaret Roulet (October 5, 1930 – August 13, 2020) was a Roman Catholic sister of the Sisters of St. Joseph who created programs that connect incarcerated mothers and their children. She was instrumental in the prison reform movement and established the precedent of connecting imprisoned mothers with their babies that many United States prisons now use as a model.

Early life Elaine Margaret Roulet was born to George and Margaret (Laundrigan) Roulet in Maspeth, Queens, New York City. She was the couple's second child. Her mother worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard following her father's death.

In 2005, Roulet founded a monthly retreat for formerly incarcerated women called Our Journey. and soon became a national model for prisons in terms of providing support for mothers and their babies in prison. A prison nursery was opened and operated in the Taconic Correctional Facility for women, across the street from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Until 2011, Taconic also had a prison nursery; it was closed because of budget cuts and a low number of mothers and babies that was as high as twenty-six mothers and their babies for many years.

Personal life Roulet lived in Brentwood, New York and Breezy Point, Queens. She became friends with actress Glenn Close.

The 2011 documentary, The Mothers of Bedford featured her workt.