Children of Incarcerated Parents

1
Children of Incarcerated Parents

• What do you know about children who have one or
  more parents who are incarcerated?

2
Children of Incarcerated Parents

• Do you know
• Several states build the number of prisons based
  on the number of children who do not pass first
  grade OR the number of children who are behind in
  reading by third grade.

3
Children of Incarcerated Parents

• Nationally, how many children would you suspect
  have a parent in prison?
• Nationally, how many children would you suspect
  have parents involved in the criminal justice
  system prison, jail, pre-release, boot camp,
  and parole?

4
Children of Incarcerated Parents
1991 500,000 children have a parent in prison
5
Children of Incarcerated Parents
Compare 1991 to Today 2,000,000
6
Children with Parents Involved in the Criminal
Justice System
7,000,000
7
Type of Offense of Parents

• 44 Violent
• 2 Property
• 24 Drug
• 10 Public-order

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Type of Offense of Parents

• 44 Violent
• 11 Homicide
• 8 Sexual Assault
• 13 Robbery
• 10 Assault
• 2 Other

9
Type of Offense of Parents

• 2 Property
• 10 Burglary
• 5 Larceny
• 2 Motor Vehicle Theft
• 3 Fraud
• 2 Stolen Property
• 1 Other

10
Type of Offense of Parents

• 24 Drug
• 10 Possession
• 13 Trafficking
• 1 Other

11
Type of Offense of Parents

• 10 Public-order
• 3 Weapons
• 8 Other

12
Length of Sentence of Parents

• 3 Less than 12 months
• 13 12-35 months
• 13 36-59 months
• 23 60-119 months
• 14 120-179 months
• 9 180-239 months
• 19 240 months
• 6 Life/Death

13
Criminal History of Parents

• 23 None
• 77 Priors
• 46 Violent Recidivists
• 4 Drug Recidivists
• 27 Other Recidivists

14
Age of Children of Incarcerated Parents

• 2.1 Less than one year of age
• 20.4 1-4 years
• 35.1 5-9 years
• 28.0 10-14 years
• 14.5 15-17 years

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Children of Incarcerated Parents

• These children are at greater risk of
• Emotional and behavioral difficulties including
  withdrawal, aggression, anxiety, depression
• Poor academic performance (70 of parents do not
  have a high school diploma)
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Delinquency
• Living in poverty (80)
• Homelessness (9)
• Being placed in foster care (2.4)
• Dropping out of school
• Incarceration as a juvenile or adult

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Children of Incarcerated Parents

• In FY 2005, we
• Began an initiative through Even Start to assist
  children of incarcerated parents.
• Linked prison to community family literacy
  programs and prison adult education programs to
  break the cycle of incarceration by stabilizing
  families

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Cycle of Incarceration

• Children of incarcerated parents are 6 times more
  likely to become criminally involved.
• Family literacy can help break the cycle.

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Critical Elements for Family Literacy Programs
for Incarcerated Parents

• Usual four components
• Contacts between parents and children
• Strengths-based parent empowerment
• Caregiver linkage with custodial parent or
  guardian
• Connection to/for post-release support (going
  back to the family, balancing work and family)
• Innovativeness and flexibility in program
  delivery

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Family Literacy for Incarcerated Parents Model
Early Childhood Education
Family
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Family Literacy for Incarcerated Parents Model
Early Childhood Education
Parenting for Incarcerated Parent
Caregiver Connection
Parenting for Custodial Parent or Caregiver
Family
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Family Literacy for Incarcerated Parents Model
Early Childhood Education
Parenting for Incarcerated Parent
Caregiver Connection
Parenting for Custodial Parent or Caregiver
Family
Parent and Child Time for Incarcerated Parent
Parent and Child Time for Custodial Parent or
Caregiver
Interactive Activities Time
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Family Literacy for Incarcerated Parents Model
Early Childhood Education
Parenting for Incarcerated Parent
Caregiver Connection
Parenting for Custodial Parent or Caregiver
Family
Adult Ed for Custodial Parent or Caregiver
Parent and Child Time for Incarcerated Parent
Parent and Child Time for Custodial Parent or
Caregiver
Adult Ed for Incarcerated Parent
Interactive Activities Time
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Family Literacy for Incarcerated Parents Model
Early Childhood Education
Parenting for Incarcerated Parent
Caregiver Connection
Parenting for Custodial Parent or Caregiver
Family
Adult Ed for Custodial Parent or Caregiver
Parent and Child Time for Incarcerated Parent
Parent and Child Time for Custodial Parent or
Caregiver
Adult Ed for Incarcerated Parent
Interactive Activities Time
Life Skills for Incarcerated Parent
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Family Literacy for Incarcerated Parents Model
Early Childhood Education
Parenting for Incarcerated Parent
Parent Support For the Custodial Parent or
Caregiver
Caregiver Connection
Parenting for Custodial Parent or Caregiver
Parent Support For the Incarcerated Parent
Family
Adult Ed for Custodial Parent or Caregiver
Parent and Child Time for Incarcerated Parent
Parent and Child Time for Custodial Parent or
Caregiver
Adult Ed for Incarcerated Parent
Interactive Activities Time
Life Skills for Incarcerated Parent
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Scope of the Family Literacy for Incarcerated
Parents (FLIP) Initiative

• Partnerships are being developed between
  community Even Start Projects and Prisons
• Partnerships throughout the state are being
  formed
• Target of 5 families per prison/community
  partnership
• Develop program components (i.e., interactive
  literacy activities, support component
  strategies)
• MOU of each partners role and responsibility
  including state and local commitments have been
  developed and signed
• Each community partner is provided 25,000 for
  this initiative
• Commitment to all aspects of the Initiative

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Commitment of the Initiative Partners

• Design components as part of a statewide effort
  (meetings and independent writing)
• Work with partner to develop processes and
  procedures
• Implement and monitor
• Collect data on participants
• Write report of results
• Share findings

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Timeframe

• July September Planning and designing
• September November Selecting participants
  
  Organizing the program
• January Begin
  implementation
• February June Program operation and
  monitoring,
  data
  collection
• July August Final report
  preparation
• August 31 Report due

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Children of Incarcerated Parents

• How will your programs be involved?

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Delaware Family Literacy Programs

• Serving the hardest to serve populations
• Taking risks
• Developing new paradigms
• Committed to providing quality services