Introduction
On any given day, there are an estimated 2.7 million children in the United States with at least one parent in prison or jail.
Although Minnesota does not yet systematically collect information about incarcerated parents and their children, based on the national statistic, it is estimated that at least 10,000 children in Minnesota have a parent currently in prison or jail.
- from Strengthening Families Affected by Incarceration, http://www.familiesaffectedbyincarceration.org/
Effective Parenting Practices
Instructional Tools
Resources
Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration
Dr. Rebecca Shlafer and Erin Casey have been working closely with Sesame Workshop to disseminate their newest initiative, Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration, to community organizations across Minnesota. This initiative includes multimedia, bilingual (English/Spanish) materials targeting young children (ages 3-8) of incarcerated parents, their families and caregivers, and the range of other professionals who support these children.
These FREE materials include:
- A multimedia resource kit with a Sesame Street DVD, a Guide for Parents and Caregivers, and a Children’s Storybook, available at www.sesamestreet.org/incarceration (or click here)
- Sesame Street: Incarceration app for adults to use on tablets and phones, available on Google Play, the App Store and the Amazon Appstore for Android on Kindle Fire.
- Youtube.com/user/SesameStreetInCommunities featuring playlists of videos related to the initiative (or click here)
Minnesota has been selected as one of ten pilot states for this Initiative. Over the course of the next few months, one of our goals is to get the resource kits into the hands of as many children, caregivers, and service providers working with families affected by incarceration as we can. If you're interested in using the kits in your agency or organization, or learning more about the project, please contact Dr. Rebecca Shlafer (ude.nmu|200falhs#ude.nmu|200falhs or 612-625-9907).
You can also put in a request for kits by clicking here.
Tip Sheet for Incarcerated Parents: Planning for a Visit from Your Child/Children
Click Here, youth.gov
Teaching Strategies
Links
Fair Fight Initiative
Click Here
National Institute of Corrections, Children of Incarcerated Parents
Click Here
Minnesota Examples & Resources
Incarcerated Mothers in Minnesota: Opportunities for Education and Intervention
Click Here, Robina Institute, University of Minnesota
MN Strengthening Families Affected by Incarceration Collaborative
Click Here, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
Parenting with Purpose: Building Strong Families
Click Here
Staying Connected and Staying Strong: A handbook for families and friends of those incarcerated in Minnesota State Correctional Facilities
Click Here, Minnesota Department of Corrections
Strengthening Families Affected by Incarceration
Click Here
The Inside-Out Connections project: Helping communities address the needs of children with incarcerated parents.
Click Here, Initiative Foundation
Research/Literature
A Shared Sentence: The Devastating Toll of Parental Incarceration on Kids, Families and Communities
Click Here, Annie E. Casey Foundation, April 2016
More than 5 million U.S. children have had a parent in jail or prison at some point in their lives. The incarceration of a parent can have as much impact on a child’s well-being as abuse or domestic violence. But while states spend heavily on corrections, few resources exist to support those left behind. A Shared Sentence offers commonsense proposals to address the increased poverty and stress that children of incarcerated parents experience.
Characteristics of Incarcerated Fathers and Mothers: Implications for Preventive Interventions Targeting Children and Families
Click Here Children and Youth Services Review 34 (2012) 2409–2415
The number of children of incarcerated parents in the U.S. has grown dramatically in recent years. These children appear to be at risk for various problems, and a number of family-focused preventive efforts have been attempted. The current study examines differences between incarcerated mothers, incarcerated fathers, and their families on factors that might be important to consider when creating the content and process of preventive intervention programs. Participants were 359 inmates (54% women; 41% minority) who were parents of children between the ages of 3 and 11 years and who parented their children prior to imprisonment. Mothers and fathers were similar on a number of dimensions including age, education-level, number and age of children, and family criminal history, but differences were observed on key variables relevant to outcomes for children and families, including employment history and income, substance use, mental health, trauma experiences and criminal history. Implications for prevention programs are discussed.
From Prison to Parenting
Click Here Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23:171–177, 2013
An estimated 1.5 million children have a parent held in a state or federal prison in the United States, an increase of more than half a million since 1991. Many of these children have disruptions in familial relationships such as growing up in foster care, with grandparents or other relatives, or moving around among an array of temporary caretakers. Incarcerated parents have few opportunities for parenting from the inside, and they worry about the impact of their separation on their children. Children of African American families are hit particularly hard. Nearly half the parents behind bars are Black; another 20% are Hispanic. As these parents struggle to make a fresh start, they will encounter myriad legal barriers that may make it extraordinarily difficult for them to succeed in caring for their children.
How Parental Incarceration Harms Children and What to Do About It
Click Here, National Council on Family Relations, Vol 3(1), January 2018
Parents Behind Bars: What Happens to Their Children?
by David Murphey and P. Mae Cooper, October 2015
Click Here, Child Trends
Children do not often figure in discussions of incarceration, but new research finds more than five million U.S. children have had at least one parent in prison at one time or another—about three times higher than earlier estimates that included only children with a parent currently incarcerated. This report uses the National Survey of Children’s Health to examine both the prevalence of parental incarceration and child outcomes associated with it.
Videos & Presentations
Angela Patton: A Father-Daughter Dance … In Prison
from TED Talk Click Here
Joyce Arditti on Parental Incarceration Click Here for Video on NCFR Website
Professor Joyce Arditti at Virginia Tech talks about her research on parental incarceration and the transformative effect it had on her scholarship. Criminology has long been examined in the social sciences. However, Dr. Arditti has added a family lens to this area of study. Her ground-breaking research is now published in her new book on parental incarceration.
Why Life After Incarceration Is Just Another Prison, with Reuben Jonathan Miller (Ep. 65)
Sociologist examines how system prevents many from regaining citizenship in society
Click Here, University of Chicago
