Children of Incarcerated Parents: Final Report of the Oversight Committee

• NCJ Number: 222914
• Author(s): Kathleen Z. Russell; Belinda D. Stewart; Betsy Rodgers; Dee Crocker
• Date Published: June 2006
• Length: 52 pages
• Corporate Author: Washington State Dept of Corrections; Washington State Oversight Cmtte on Children of Incarcerated Parents
• Sale Source: Washington State Oversight Cmtte on Children of Incarcerated Parents
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded June 1, 2008

Annotation

This Final Report of Washington State's Oversight Committee on the Children of Incarcerated Parents presents recommendations pertinent to the oversight of and data collection on these children, professional development for the delivery of services, and innovations in services.

Abstract

Regarding the State's oversight of the children of incarcerated parents, the committee recommends creating a policy-level position to work on the systemic parenting issues that result from a parent's incarceration, so as to facilitate the delivery of appropriate services. The two recommendations on data collection are to obtain child data during the court hearing process and as part of the protocol of diagnostic and reception centers for parents entering prison. The two recommendations on professional development are to create arrest protocols for police to follow in arresting adults who have children and to educate human service, judicial, and education professionals about the special needs of the children of prisoners. Four recommendations address innovations in services for the benefit of children of incarcerated parents. One recommendation is to create drop-in child care centers at or near courthouses and/or identify existing child care resources for every jurisdiction, so as to provide care for the children of parents/caregivers who are in the courthouse for court proceedings. A second recommendation is to provide staffing that will assist incarcerated parents in developing skills and connections that will facilitate their resuming parenting after release. Another part of this recommendation is to establish collaboration between staff inside corrections centers and staff in the community in helping the family of inmates deal with reintegration or obtain support for the children in the event that the parent and child do not reunite. Other recommendations pertain to increasing contact between parent and child during the parent's incarceration and promoting family economic stability. Appended supplemental information on selected recommendations, a listing of resources, and a 69-item bibliography