tailieunhanh - Broken Bonds - Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Children with Incarcerated Parents

Parental incarceration affects a large and increasing number of children. The most recent estimates (for 2002) indicate that over million children have a parent who is currently in state or federal prison. Most of these children are young, low-income, and black or Hispanic. These children face significant uncertainty in nearly every aspect of their lives. Temporary, informal care arrangements may permanently separate children from their imprisoned parent, their family, and their friends. The expense and discomfort of prison visits may limit the contact between parent and child needed to maintain a relationship during incarceration. Dramatic reductions in parental income. | Broken Bonds Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Children with Incarcerated Parents Nancy G. La Vigne Elizabeth Davies Diana Brazzell RESEARCH REPORT FEBRUARY 2008 H URBAN INSTITUTE Justice Policy Center URBAN INSTITUTE Justice Policy Center 2100 M Street NW Washington DC 20037 February 2008. The Urban Institute. All rights reserved. The Urban Institute is a nonprofit nonpartisan policy research and educational organization that examines the social economic and governance problems facing the nation. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute its trustees or its funders. This research was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We thank them for their generous support and guidance. Executive Summary Parental incarceration affects a large and increasing number of children. The most recent estimates for 2002 indicate that over million children have a parent who is currently in state or federal prison. Most of these children are young low-income and black or Hispanic. These children face significant uncertainty in nearly every aspect of their lives. Temporary informal care arrangements may permanently separate children from their imprisoned parent their family and their friends. The expense and discomfort of prison visits may limit the contact between parent and child needed to maintain a relationship during incarceration. Dramatic reductions in parental income and resource-strained caregivers may lead to significant financial hardship. This hardship only aggravates the trauma and stigma that often accompany the incarceration of a parent. Children typically display short-term coping responses to deal with their loss which can develop into long-term emotional and behavioral challenges such as depression problems with school delinquency and drug use. Although a variety of associated risk factors could explain the coping behaviors common to these children recent research indicates that parental