“Arizona Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights Project Report” (2007). Describes overall project and recommendations. Pima Prevention Partnership provided quantitative and qualitative data at local, state, and national levels which informed the initiative.
To download Final Report: www.thepartnership.us

“Arizona Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights Project Manual of Strategies” (2007) highlights policies, practices and programs that are currently being implemented across the U.S. to benefit children affected by parental arrest and incarceration.
To download Manual of Strategies: www.thepartnership.us/Youth/Stars.aspx

To read previous Pima Prevention Partnership research on CIP and juvenile criminal justice issues click here.

Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents (CCIP)
Includes first national study of residential, mother-child correctional programs. Provides resources for the study of children of incarcerated parents. 
http://www.e-ccip.org/

“Imprisoning America: The Social Effects of Mass Incarceration”
http://www.russellsage.org/publications/books/0-87154-652-3

“Children of Incarcerated Parents: Research and Resources” in Children’s Bureau Express (February, 2004, Vol. 5, No. 1) by Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services.
http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/articles.cfm?article_id=768

“Cradle to Prison Pipeline” (2006) by Children’s Defense Fund, Washington, DC. Report documents impact of poverty and race on rate of incarceration in America.
Download under Publications (Spanish/English) at www.childrensdefense.org

“Making a Difference: An Impact Study of Big Brothers Big Sisters”, a 1995 publication of Public/Private Ventures Research, identified many positive effects of Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring matches. BBBS agencies have been national leaders in mentoring for over 50 years and are considered to provide a best practice intervention.
To download study: www.ppv.org.

Making "The Bill of Rights for Children of Incarcerated Parents" a Reality: Evaluation Report.
Phillips, Susan D.
Jane Addams College of Social Work.
2008
The Open Society Institute of the Soros Foundation funded a Senior Fellow to provide technical assistance to groups across the country that were interested in pursuing changes in policy and practice to make The Bill of Rights for Children of Incarcerated Parents a reality. These groups – or partnerships as they refer to themselves – did not receive any funding, only technical assistance. Nonetheless, in the course of 14‐months members of the partnerships formed organizations, educated themselves about issues affecting children with incarcerated parents, mobilized support, and launched a multitude of projects to change how systems and programs interact with children whose parents are in jail or prison. These partnerships show the potentially of becoming a potentially potent incubator for policy and practice reforms.
www.f2f.ca.gov/res/pdf/MakingTheBillofRights.pdf

Children and Families of Incarcerated Parents: Understanding the Challenges and Addressing the Needs.
Bearse, Miriam L.
Washington. Department of Social and Health Services.
2008
Attention to the issues faced by children and families of incarcerated parents (CFIP) has grown over the last few years both nationally and in Washington State. In the State of Washington alone, it is estimated that there are nearly 30,000 children who currently have incarcerated parents. Many of the issues addressed by other states are the central issues that have arisen thus far in Washington State. These include visitation and contact, maintenance of safety for the child and caretaker, systems collaboration in addressing the needs of children at time of arrest, relevant services for parents while incarcerated, proximity of parents to children and establishment of family friendly visitation policies, collaboration between corrections and child welfare, maintenance of income and other supports for caregivers, management of child support and other debt by parents exiting incarceration, expansion of community and agency supports and services for children, and appropriate sharing of data and information to allow cross-agency collaboration. To analyze these and related issues, Washington State passed HB 1426 in 2005, which led to the creation of the Final Report of the Oversight Committee in 2006. This report recommended several changes to policies and services.
www.gcyf.org.usr doc/Children and Families of Incarcerated Parents.doc

Parenting From Prison.
Youth Communication.
2008
Incarcerated parents with children in foster care face many challenges staying connected. It can be difficult to access services, set up visits and reunite after release. Parents with sentences longer than 15 months are at risk of permanently losing their rights to their children. In this issue, parents in prison write about their efforts to stay connected to their children in foster care despite their incarceration and to reunify after release. (Author abstract)
www.risemagazine.org/PDF/Rise-issue-10.pdf

Strengthening Marriages and Families Affected by Incarceration
Thirteen programs around the country were funded in 2006 under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage, and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Re-entering Fathers and Their Partners (MFS-IP) grant program. State, local, and Tribal agencies and private community and faith-based organizations are using the funds to develop services that promote healthy relationships for couples with children, where one parent is (or recently was) incarcerated. A new report presents the first results of a 7-year evaluation of the MFS-IP grantees that began in October 2006. Focusing on the evaluation design, this study describes all 13 projects along a variety of dimensions and describes the evaluation framework that will be used in upcoming reports. This framework will assess the inputs (e.g., funding, partnerships),"throughputs" (e.g., services), outputs (e.g., systems change), and outcomes (e.g., child well-being, family violence) of the project. The brief was prepared by Christine Lindquist and Anupa Bir of RTI International, under contract to the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), and is available on the ASPE website.
 aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/08/MFS-IP/rb.pdf (339 - KB)


IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT 4:00 P.M. EDT Bureau of Justice Statistics
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2008
AN ESTIMATED 809,800 INMATES IN THE NATION’S PRISONS WERE PARENTS TO 1,706,600 MINOR CHILDREN AT MIDYEAR 2007
WASHINGTON – An estimated 809,800 prisoners of the 1,518,535 held in the nation’s prison at midyear 2007 were parents of minor children, according to a report by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Parents in prison — 52 percent of state inmates and 63 percent of federal inmates — reported having an estimated 1,706,600 minor children. Among state inmates, the percent of parents in prison decreased from 55 percent in 1997 but has remained stable for federal inmates.
About 2.3 percent of the 74 million children in the U.S. resident population who were under the age of 18 on July 1, 2007, had a parent in prison. Black and Hispanic children were about eight and three times, respectively, more likely than white children to have a parent in prison. Among minor children in the U.S. resident population, 6.7 percent of black children, 2.4 percent of Hispanic children, and 0.9 percent of white children had a parent in prison. State inmates who were parents reported that nearly a quarter of their children were age four or younger and reported having two children on average.
Among fathers in state and federal prisons, more than 4 in 10 were black, about 3 in 10 were white, and about 2 in 10 were Hispanic. Among mothers, 48 percent were white, 28 percent were black, and 17 percent were Hispanic.
State inmates age 25 to 34 (64 percent) were most likely to report being a parent, those age 55 or older (13 percent) were the least likely. Hispanic (57 percent) and black (54 percent) state inmates were more likely to report being a parent than white (46 percent) inmates. Findings were similar among men held in state prison, while the likelihood of being a parent did not vary by race among women.
Among male state inmates, public-order (60 percent) and drug (59 percent) offenders were more likely than violent (47 percent) and property (48 percent) offenders to be fathers. In state prison, inmates with a criminal history (53 percent) were more likely to report being a parent than those without a criminal history (48 percent).
About two-thirds (64 percent) of mothers held in state prison and nearly half (47 percent) of fathers reported living with their minor children either in the month before arrest or just prior to incarceration. Among state inmates, mothers (42 percent) were two and a half times more likely than fathers (17 percent) to report living in a single-parent household in the month before their arrest.
Among parents living with their minor children prior to incarceration, more than three-quarters (77 percent) of mothers compared to just over a quarter (26 percent) of fathers reported providing most of the daily care of their children. More than half of mothers (52 percent) and fathers (54 percent) held in state prison reported providing primary financial support to their minor children.
Eighty-five percent of mothers and 78 percent of fathers in state prison reported having contact with a child (minor or adult) since admission to prison. About half (47 percent) of parents who expected to be released within six months reported at least weekly contact compared to 39 percent with 12 to 59 months, and 32 percent with 60 or more months.
Among parents in state prison, nine percent reported homelessness in the year before arrest, 20 percent had a history of physical or sexual abuse, 41 percent had a current medical problem, 57 percent had a mental health problem, and 67 percent met the criteria for substance dependence or abuse. Seven in ten parents in state prison who met the criteria for substance dependence or abuse reported ever being in a program or receiving treatment for alcohol or drug abuse; more than 4 in 10 received treatment since admission. Forty-six percent of parents who had a mental health problem reported ever having treatment; 31 percent had received treatment since admission.
Among parents held in state prison, over half (57 percent) had attended self-help or improvement classes since admission. Mothers (27 percent) were about two and a half times more likely than fathers (11 percent) to attend parenting or child-rearing classes.
The majority (52 percent) of parents in state prison reported that they had served 12 to 59 months. Mothers (38 percent) were more likely than fathers (21 percent) to report having served fewer than 12 months. More than 6 in 10 mothers held in state prison expected to be released in less than 12 months; compared to 4 in 10 fathers.
The report, Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children (NCJ 222984), was written by BJS statisticians Lauren E. Glaze and Laura M. Maruschak.
Following publication, the report can be found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pptmc.htm.

For additional information about the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ statistical reports and programs, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs
Please visit the BJS Web site at: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs



The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has five component bureaus: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime. Additionally, OJP has two program offices: the Community Capacity Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy, and the Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) Office. More information can be found at www.ojp.usdoj.gov

 Important NEW research on children of incarcerated parents
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pptmc.htm