Help for Inmates 

Child Care & Related Programs

 

 

 

 

Components of Children with Incarcerated Parents:

 

 

Who Are the Children?

In 2010, 2.7 million children in the United States had a parent in jail or prison. That is about 1 in every 28 minors, or nearly twice as many children as there are in the entire state of Wisconsin. Black children are far more likely than white or Hispanic children to have a parent in prison, particularly if their parent didn’t complete high school.

 

 

The Loss of a Parent

For many children, the most devastating and immediate impact when their parent is incarcerated is the loss of daily contact with that parent. The vast majority of incarcerated mothers, and 30–40% of fathers behind bars, lived with their children prior to imprisonment. Not having a parent around for play, emotional support, and guidance can be emotionally stressful. Another loss is financial—even when fathers did not live with their child many provided financial support prior to incarceration.

  

Family Changes

When a parent is incarcerated, family structure often changes. Family members may be forced to take on different roles to care for the children. Sometimes, children may have to move in with extended family if their primary caretaker is incarcerated.

 

 

Negative Family Dynamics

Children of incarcerated parents are more likely to be exposed to parental substance abuse, parental mental illness, and conflicts with a parent, and harsh or punitive parenting practices than their peers who don’t have a parent in prison. While these conditions may have existed even before the parent goes to prison, they magnify a child’s stress following a parent’s incarceration.

 

 

Emotional Toll

Children who have a parent behind bars often express negative feelings such as anger, guilt, or confusion about the incarceration. Exposure to correctional facilities when children visit their parents can sometimes cause emotional distress, unless it is a child friendly visit. Further, many caregivers don’t know how to talk to children about their incarcerated parent, and some don’t talk to them about it at all, leaving the child to deal with a confusing, ambiguous loss without the support they need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children of Incarcerated Parents

 

MORE THAN TWO MILLION AMERICAN CHILDREN HAVE A PARENT BEHIND BARS TODAY—50 percent more than a decade ago. Approximately ten million—or one in eight of the nation’s children—has experienced parental incarceration at some point in their lives. Little is known about what becomes of children when their parents are imprisoned. There is no requirement that the various institutions charged with dealing with offenders—the police, courts, jails and prisons, probation departments—inquire about children’s existence, much less concern themselves with children’s care. Conversely, there is no requirement that the front-line systems serving vulnerable children—public schools, child welfare, juvenile justice—inquire about or account for parental incarceration. Children of prisoners have a daunting array of needs. They need a safe place to live and people to care for them in their parents’ absence, as well as everything else a parent might be expected to provide: food, clothing, and medical care.

 

But beyond these material requirements, young people themselves identify an array of less tangible, but equally compelling, needs. They need to be told the truth about their parents’ situation. They need someone to listen without judging, so that their parents’ status need not remain a secret. They need the companionship of others who share their circumstance, so they can know they are not alone. They need contact with their parents; to have that relationship recognized and valued even under adverse circumstances. And—rather than being stigmatized for their parents’

actions or status—they need to be treated with respect, offered opportunity, and recognized as having potential.

 

These needs, too often, go not just unmet but unacknowledged. Over the years, a series of court cases has delineated the rights of prisoners in the United States. These rights are limited—some would argue insufficient—but they are, at the least, recognized. The idea that prisoners, while they may be required to forfeit the right to liberty, nevertheless retain other rights that demand respect, is generally taken for granted. Where it is not, advocates are ready and able to step in and fight on behalf of the incarcerated. The same does not hold true for the children of prisoners. They have, it ought to go without saying, committed no crime, but the penalty they are required to pay is steep. They forfeit, in too many cases, virtually everything that matters to them: their home, their safety, their public status and private self-image, their source of comfort and affection. Their lives and prospects are profoundly affected by the numerous institutions that lay claim to their parents—police, courts, jails and prisons, probation and parole—but they have no rights, explicit or implicit, within any of these jurisdictions.

 

This need not be the case. Should the rights that follow be recognized, the children of prisoners would still face a daunting array of obstacles and  traumas. But they would do so with the knowledge that the society that had removed their parents took some responsibility for their care. A criminal justice model that took as its constituency not just offending individuals but also the families and communities within which their lives are embedded—one that respected the rights and needs of children—might become one that inspired the confidence and respect of those families and communities, and so played a part in stemming, rather than perpetuating, the intergenerational cycle of crime and incarceration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bill of Rights

 

The San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership created the list below. The list is being discussed and considered in a number of communities across the United States.

 

1. I have the right to be kept safe and informed at the time of my parent’s arrest.

 

2. I have the right to be heard when decisions are made about me.

 

3. I have the right to be considered when decisions are made about my parent.

 

4. I have the right to be well cared for in my parent’s absence.

 

5. I have the right to speak with, see and touch my parent.

 

6. I have the right to support as I face my parent’s incarceration.

 

7. I have the right not to be judged, blamed or labeled because my parent is incarcerated.

 

8. I have the right to a lifelong relationship with my parent.

 

 

National Facts:

 

In 2007 there were 1.7 million children with a parent in prison.

 

More than 70% of these were children of color.

 

The number of children with a parent in prison has increased 82% since the early 1990’s.

 

The number of incarcerated mothers has more than doubled from 1991 to 2007 with 65,600 mothers incarcerated in 2007.

 

Approximately half of children with an incarcerated parent are under ten years old.

 

Eligibility for benefits

 

Benefits.gov is a free website with information about benefits you may be eligible for. Government benefit programs offer nutrition assistance, career development, child care support, counseling, disability services, disaster relief, education, job training, energy rebates, health care/Medicaid, housing, Medicare, Social Security, tax preparation and veterans services. Go to www.benefits.gov or call 800-FED-INFO (800-333-4636).

 

Food Bank Locator

 

Feeding America’s Food Bank Locator (http:// feedingamerica.org/foodbank-results.aspx) is an online tool to connect you with your local food bank. These organizations provide food to families in need. For referrals by phone, call Feeding America at 800-771-2303 and press “0” to speak with an operator and ask for food bank referrals. You can also check your phone book under Food Sites/Programs.

 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

 

SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) can help low-income families pay for food. Eligibility is based on your household’s size, income and expenses.

• Use the SNAP pre-screening tool (www.snap-step1. usda.gov/fns) to find out if you are eligible for SNAP benefits and how much you could receive.

• To apply, contact your state office. To find your office, go to www.fns.usda.gov/snap/outreach/ map.htm, or call 800-221-5689 to hear the toll-free number for your state’s program.