1. The Effects of Parental Incarceration on Children and Families Carole Thompson Senior Associate The Annie E. Casey Foundation Friday, November 16, 2007

2. Presentation Overview The Criminal Justice Population The Children and Families Left Behind Consequences for Children and Caregivers Promising Practices to Mitigate the Negative Consequences Additional Opportunities AECF’s Role Role for Philanthropy

3. The volume of adults in the criminal justice system is at an all time high and growing. The Criminal Justice System

4. Source: The Urban Institute, 2001. Based on BJS National Prisoner Statistics. Prison Admissions Prison Releases More People Are Entering and Exiting Prison 1.5 million incarcerated adults at any given time

5. Incarcerated Females Increasing Faster than Males 32% increase in men 53% increase in women Source: The Urban Institute, 2001. Based on BJS National Prisoner Statistics.

6. Number of Incarcerated Parents 1.4 million adults in state and federal prisons Over 700,000 are parents of minors Over half of state prisoners had at least one minor child and one-third had more than one child “Best estimates” are still poor Only capture “moment in time” Double count children with both parents incarcerated Based on 1997 data

7. The Children and Families Left Behind For every parent who is incarcerated, it is estimated two children are left behind.

8. Children of Prisoners At least 1.5-2 million children have a parent incarcerated in state or federal prison 22% of these children are under 5 years old Disparate impact on minorities African-American children are almost 9 times more likely to have a parent in prison Hispanic children 3 times more likely Significant shares of both mothers and fathers behind bars If mothers have been incarcerated, it’s likely fathers have too About two-thirds of teens whose mothers have arrest histories also have fathers with arrest histories

9. The Caretakers 90% of incarcerated fathers report their children living with mothers (Mumola, 2000). 28% of incarcerated mothers report children living with fathers (Mumola, 2000). Kinship care most common resource for incarcerated mothers (Mumola, 2000). One out of every 10 children of incarcerated mothers is in foster care (Mumola, 2000). Appellate cases involving TPR have gone up 250% since ASFA’s inception in ’97-’02 (Lee, Genty, & Laver, 2005)

10. Consequences for Children and Caregivers Parental incarceration is a strong risk factor (and possible cause) for a range of adverse outcomes for children and caregivers

11. Parent risk factors Antisocial attitudes and behavior Lack of education Substance abuse Mental illness Family risk factors Single-parent households Family conflict Poverty Inadequate parenting Disruption in care Community risk factors Exposure to violence Access to drug markets Delinquent peers Parental Arrest and Incarceration is a Significant Risk Factor

12. Effects on Children and Caregivers Single-parent and grandparent-headed households Economic and material crises Loss of contact w/ incarcerated parent Long-term effects on employability and earnings of parents Changes in residence and caregivers Separation from siblings Grief, stigma, anxiety, behavior problems

13. Financial Costs Greater material hardship Lost income for families left behind Breadwinner behind bars Loss of child support payments Additional challenges for elderly caregivers May exhaust retirement savings Poor physical health Caregivers face TANF restrictions Lifetime limit of 60 months Telephone/visiting expenses

14. Mental Health, Substance Use & Education Parental incarceration associated with a two-fold increase in risk for child mental health problems (Murray and Farrington, 2007). Higher aggression levels Greater anxiety levels More withdrawal (Garfinkel & Geller, 2007) Evidence of higher incidence of long-term drug use (Merlo and Pollock, 1995; Murray and Farrington, 2007). Higher failure and drop out rates (Trice and Brewster, 2004). A consistent finding of school performance problems among substantial numbers of these children (Hairston, 2007).

15. Children & Families Appear in Many Deep-end Systems Make-up as many as 70% of children in L/T foster care Represent 10-25% of current CW caseload Some evidence that having a parent or sibling incarcerated is an additional risk factor in the juvenile justice arena Growing evidence that children of the incarcerated are more likely to be incarcerated themselves These children and families are among the most complex cases service systems encounter.

16. Promising Practices to Mitigate the Negative Consequences

17. Promising Practices: Tap Faith and Community Resources Mentoring opportunities Big Brothers/Big Sisters & Amachi HHS funded $153 million Maintain family contact in safe and appropriate ways Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority: Reading program Angel Tree Enhancing children’s overall school performance needs to be given high priority Healing Communities Model: AECF & PNBC

18. Additional Opportunities Develop and collect better information & data on kids Identify and address needs of families and caregivers Encourage cross-agency collaboration among social service providers, schools, DOC, DMH, etc. Facilitate Family Connections Increase in-prison contact (in positive environment) Involve & support families at arrest, during and after incarceration Address special needs of dual system involved families Improve preparations for reentry Second Chance Act $20 million for kids

19. The Role for AECF AECF, as a national leader on issues of vulnerable children and families, could greatly influence policy and practice while leveraging additional resources to improve outcomes for this vulnerable population through its grant making, dissemination of lessons, and national voice.

20. 2007/2008 AECF Investment Approach Build a strong knowledge base through the support and dissemination of reliable data and research that can better inform policy and practice. Serve as a catalyst and convener in cultivating co-investment for the knowledge development & capacity building work we need to do. Mine promising practices for the field from our AECF & Casey Cousins’ direct services, grant making, system reform and policy advocacy work.

21. Role for Philanthropy What is an appropriate role for private philanthropy? What is the most strategic use of philanthropic dollars to improve outcomes for children and families of the incarcerated? Advocacy? Practice/Direct Service/Capital Projects? Knowledge Development? Influencing public policy? National, State, or local level? Leveraging of additional resources?

22. Thank you! For more information contact Carole Thompson: cthompson@aecf.org URBAN INSTITUTE Justice Policy Center