This policy report from Kids Count outlines the impacts that parental incarceration has on children, and on communities as a whole, particularly in the context of mass incarceration in the United States. The report includes data on individual states in the US and highlights data on parental incarceration and its impacts on three cities: Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Providence. The report describes the financial toll that parental incarceration can have on children and families, as well as the social and emotional toll that it has on children and parents, particularly as it threatens family bonds and exposes children to the trauma of separation from their parents.
The report concludes with recommendations for investing in families to mediate the detrimental effects of parental incarceration, which disproportionately affects people of color in the United States. The report recommends establishing supports for children while their parents are incarcerated and connecting parents who have returned to their communities pathways to employment. The report also recommends strengthening communities that are disproportionately affected by mass incarceration to promote family stability and opportunity.
