The new women’s prison project was originally proposed by former Governor Baker for $50 million. Directly impacted women led the push that passed the Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium in 2022, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Baker.

Under Governor Healey, the project now has a price tag of $360 million with no public explanation or justification. When Healey announced the project on June 30th, 2025, her administration had not even informed women inside MCI-Framingham that this project was going to happen. Families for Justice as Healing sent in the Governor’s press release to women in the prison. Since then, there have been more questions than answers about this expensive and unnecessary plan. The Governor has refused to meet with formerly incarcerated women.

Organizers refiled the Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium this session, and the bill was recently passed favorably out of the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight committee. It is now in the Ways and Means Committee. A Moratorium means a five-year pause on prison design, planning, and construction.

In the fall of 2025, Families for Justice as Healing worked with students from the Boston College Law School Civil Rights Clinic to collect thoughts from women incarcerated at MCI-Framingham about the the proposed $360m project. Women are generally opposed to the project and think it is a waste of taxpayer dollars - 75% of interviewees oppose the project and 84% have significant concerns about how it is implemented. Read more about their thoughts about the culture of the prison and what they actually needed in “Hear Our Voices: Women Inside MCI-Framingham Speak on Prison Construction.”