Keeping families in the criminal justice system connected.
By providing support for the children whose primary support role is or has been incarcerated and offering bail services to qualifying parent offenders who cannot afford to bail out prior to conviction.
It is estimated that 10 million children have experienced parental incarceration at some point within their life.
Currently, 2.7 million children have a parent that is currently incarcerated. Studies show that more than 58% of women and 65% of men in federal prison are parents to a minor child. An estimate of 684,500 state and federal prisoners are parents of at least one minor child. The rates are growing at an increasingly alarming rate accounting for nearly half of state and federal prisons.
Nearly 49% percent of incarcerated parents lived with their children before incarceration. A recent study showed 66% of mothers and 47% of fathers in the United States were housed with children prior to their arrest. The United States' reliance on substantially longer sentences creates a detrimental barrier between parents and children. Many parent prisoners have been accused of non-violent offenses and remain in prison solely because they cannot afford to bail out before trial. The results can be tragic for these parents, causing parents to lose their employment, their housing, and even custody of their children.
The current criminal justice system forces parents to take plea deals that will have lasting effects on their parenting skills and lead to traumatic impacts on both parents and children. In addition, research shows that children's visits to prison have detrimental effects due to the restrictive provisions.
Helping kids without an advantage find their place in society
The impact of parental incarceration can have long-lasting effects on the children, even after release.
“The arrest and removal of a mother or father from a child’s life forces that child to confront emotional, social and economic consequences that may trigger behavior problems, poor outcomes in school and a disruption or severance of the relationship with the incarcerated parent that may persist even after the parent is released from prison.”
Our well-rounded approach to protecting the family relationship during the criminal justice process.
Providing Bail assistance to combat the removal of parents while processing through the criminal justice system to prevent the separation of families before a conviction.
Offering support services to prepare families for periods of incarceration.
Assisting the children of incarcerated parents with navigating through the process during and after a parent's arrest.
Reforming current prison visitation setting when children are involved and promoting healthy family relationships during separation from incarceration.
How you can help