Resources from the former
CWLA
Federal Resource Center for Children of
Prisoners:
What Happens to Children?
When a parent is arrested . . .
One in five children of incarcerated mothers
witnessed their mother's arrest. Those who don't witness the arrest will
reconstruct it in their minds. Either way, it's traumatizing. And we
have few policies or protocols in place to ensure that children's needs
are met. Law enforcement officers pay little attention to the needs of
the arrestee's children, and arrested mothers get little assistance in
making temporary arrangements for their children or planning for their
children's long-term care.
When a parent is incarcerated. . .
Children's lives are disrupted . . .
Incarcerated mothers were often the sole caregivers for their children.
When they become incarcerated, their children's living arrangements
become disrupted and uncertain. Approximately half of children whose
mothers are incarcerated live with grandparents, one-quarter live with
their fathers, and the remaining one-quarter are placed in out-of-home
care or live with other relatives or friends in informal placements.
These children are often separated from their siblings and may
experience erratic shifts in caregivers.
Children lose contact with their parents . . . For
children, the most devastating aspect of parental incarceration is the
lack of contact they have with their parents. Half of children with
incarcerated mothers never visit their mothers in prison. The other half
visit infrequently.
Prison visits are difficult . . . One of the major
barriers to visitation is geographical proximity. Many prisons,
particularly women's prisons, are located in more rural areas and are
difficult to access by public transportation. For the most part,
children are dependent upon their caregivers to transport them to visits
-- and many caregivers may be unable or simply reluctant to facilitate
visits. Many can't afford the cost of transportation or the time off
from work -- and other simply don't believe that prison is an
appropriate environment for a child. Finally, grandparent or other
relative caregivers may deny visits as a way of expressing anger at the
imprisoned parent.
Once children arrive at the prison, they have to go through prison
security -- which can be intimidating for adults and frightening for
younger children. Also, the rooms where the visits take place are rarely
child-friendly. Most often, they're noisy and crowded -- and not at all
conducive to having a productive, relationship-building visit. There are
some prisons that have established child-centered visiting programs that
allow parents and children to interact in supportive child-centered
environments, but visits in most prisons still take place in rooms that
are not hospitable to children.
Even though we know that regular visits are the key to helping children
work through trauma - and that regular visits are the best predictor of
families reunifying when prisoners are released -- we still don't do
much to support or encourage visitation.
Even keeping in touch by phone is difficult, because prisoners can only
make collect phone calls -- which are charged at a higher rate than
regular long distance. Most families can't afford frequent calls.
Children live in poverty . . . Most children of
incarcerated parents live in poverty before, during and after their
parents incarceration -- but the period during incarceration can be
particularly difficult. When women go to prison, their children may
suffer financially because the mothers are often the sole support of
their children. Their children are often cared for by relatives who are
also poor and already overburdened. Many relative caregivers depend upon
public assistance to care for the children living with them.
When a parent is released . . .
Families seeking to reunify when a parent
has been released face many challenges. Men and women leaving prison are
often homeless, poor, and struggling to stay substance-free. There are
few supportive services available to help them reestablish their lives
so they can begin to parent and provide homes for their children. Even
under the best of circumstances, it's difficult for the parent, child
and caregiver to reestablish and redefine relationships.
Throughout the process . . .
Children experience difficult emotions
. . . When parents first go to prison, children feel a lot of
fear and anxiety. They worry that they've been abandoned or that they'll
never see their parent again. They worry that their caregiver will also
disappear. We don't give them much information about what's going on --
and the uncertainty of the criminal justice process only makes them more
afraid. They have vivid imaginations and they worry that something
terrible will happen to their parent in prison.
Children may also feel sad and alone. They worry that they did something
bad to cause their parent to leave -- or that they could have prevented
the crisis in some way. Children may feel angry at the parent for
engaging in bad behavior -- or may feel guilty about not being able to
help the parent live a healthier life.
The stigma of incarceration is significant. Children will be teased and
taunted -- and may be avoided as being part of a "bad" family. On the
one hand, children will feel ashamed of the imprisoned parent, but on
the other hand, they'll feel intense loyalty and want to defend the
parent. Again, the stigma makes it difficult for them to seek out help
-- because they feel embarrassed and worry about being rejected.
Children are at risk . . . Behaviors and reactions will
certainly vary, and we must be careful not to label these children or
further stigmatize them. But we do know that children who experience a
parent's incarceration -- and all of the behaviors and disruptions
associated with the criminal activity -- are at increased risk for
poor academic treatment, truancy, dropping out of school, gang
involvement, early pregnancy , drug abuse, and delinquency.
