Incarceration and Reentry

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Incarceration and Reentry

Impacts on Children

Today, more than two million children in the U.S. have a parent in prison and many more minors have experienced a father or mother in jail. Research results show that when a parent is incarcerated, the lives of their children are disrupted by separation from parents, severance from siblings, and displacement to different caregivers.

Children with a parent behind bars are more likely to experience:

• Poverty
• Parental substance abuse
• Poor academic performance
• Mental health issues
• Substance abuse issues, and
• Problem behaviors, including crime

Incarceration Numbers

America's incarceration binge partly attributed to unprecedented crime rates during the 1980s is the driving force behind the growing national problem of children with a parent in prison or jail.

In 2002:

• Over two million prisoners
• More than 4.7 million adult men and women on probation or parole
• 6.7 million men and women in the Federal, State, and local adult correctional population, including those incarcerated and those being supervised in the community

Prisoner Reentry

Each year, more than 600,000 individuals return home from prison, which has profound consequences for the children of prisoners. Research reveals a number of interesting findings.

• Record numbers of prisoners return home after longer terms behind bars with inadequate assistance to aid in their reintegration, both into the community and their families.
• Most prisoners have difficulties reconnecting with families, housing, and jobs.
• Many prisoners remain plagued by substance abuse and health problems upon reentry into the community.
• The cycle of imprisonment among large numbers of individuals, mostly minority men, is increasingly concentrated in poor, urban communities already encountering enormous social and economic disadvantages.