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Families Impacted by Incarceration
In the United States today, more than 5 million children, or 7% of all children, have a parent who is or has been incarcerated. Data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) shows that about 8% of children who enter foster care do so as a direct result of parental incarceration. In many more cases, parental incarceration is one of several stressors that decrease family stability and contribute to child welfare involvement. Nearly half of the children in non-parental care have experienced parental incarceration at some point in their lives
Featured Resources
Families Impacted by Incarceration Tip Sheets
These tip sheets, produced in cooperation with the National Resource Center for Children and Families of the Incarcerated, provide strategies for maintaining the bond between children and an incarcerated parent.
An Unlikely Partnership Film and Discussion Guide
This short film, part of the Building Community, Building Hope series, highlights a collaboration between the State of Washington's Department of Early Learning and Department of Corrections to help keep families together during the incarceration of a parent.
Complete List of Resources
Videos and Social Media
- Coming SoonFamilies Impacted by Incarceration Social Media Gallery
Spread the word on the importance of helping incarcerated parents and their kids keep in contact with these social media assets. - An Unlikely Partnership Film and Discussion Guide
This short film, part of the Building Community, Building Hope series, highlights a collaboration between the State of Washington’s Department of Early Learning and Department of Corrections to help keep families together during the incarceration of a parent.
Practice Tools and Briefs
- Supporting Families Impacted by Incarceration: A Dialogue With Experts
This report highlights key issues for practitioners and identifies needed resources and tools to support the workforce and families impacted by incarceration, along with a practical framework of key intervention points from arrest to release. - Families Impacted by Incarceration Tip Sheet Series
These tip sheets, produced in cooperation with the National Resource Center for Children and Families of the Incarcerated, provide strategies for maintaining the bond between children and an incarcerated parent. - Strengthening Families, Saving Money [PDF]
Learn how the state of Washington launched a successful program to allow parents to serve their sentences from home with their children.
Digital Dialogue Recordings
- Families Impacted by Incarceration: Understanding the Issues
This presentation, by Ann Adalist-Estrin (National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated) connects research on brain development, trauma, toxic stress, attachment, and resilience theories to the experiences of children. - Families Impacted by Incarceration: A Dialogue on Practice Skills
This presentation, by Ann Adalist-Estrin (National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated) provides a national perspective on current and emerging best practices for responding to the needs of children and families impacted by the criminal justice system.
External Resources
Partners
- The Children of Incarcerated Parents Website
Youth.gov
This site includes tipsheets, podcasts, reports and videos and has a specific subsection specifically for child welfare partners. - Supporting Children and Families Affected by Parental Incarceration
Child Welfare Information Gateway
This page provides links to a range of resources for child welfare professionals who are supporting a child with a parent involved with the correctional system. - Children of Incarcerated Parents Myth Busters
Federal Interagency Reentery Council
The Reentry Myth Busters clarify existing federal policies that affect individuals who were formerly incarcerated and their families. - Coping with Incarceration
Sesame Street Communities
These resources, include kid-friendly videos and activities to help young children (3–8) express and deal with the emotions involved when a parent is incarcerated.
