NCJ Number
208194
Date Published
August 2004
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study examined the criminal histories of mothers of children in foster care in New York, as well as the chronology of arrest, incarceration, and child placement.
Abstract
A growing number of women are incarcerated every year, affecting untold numbers of children who often enter the foster care system upon their mother's incarceration. Despite the sheer numbers of these children, child welfare agencies do not have much information about how often the mothers of foster care children are incarcerated, how the maternal incarceration affects overlap in foster care placements, or why the mothers of foster care children are incarcerated. This report, the second of two, begins to answer these questions by examining foster care data from the New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS) and criminal history data from New York State's Division of Criminal Justice Services. The data indicated that the majority (90 percent) of maternal incarcerations began after child placement into foster care; thus maternal incarceration was not the primary reason for foster care placement. The majority of maternal criminal offenses related to drug sales and possessions; many mothers had prior drug convictions and convictions for prostitution, petty theft, and other crimes related to substance abuse. The findings support the ACS proposed van service to New York City's jail and suggest that family preservation efforts may function as a crime reduction strategy. Finally, the results indicate that removal of a child to foster care placement should signal the need to evaluate the mother for substance abuse problems. Figures, appendixes