White Paper: Emerging Issues for Incarcerated Parents and Their Children: Hawai'i in a National Perspective.

This paper explores the number of parents in prisons and jails in the United States and in the State of Hawaii, and unique challenges faced by Hawaiian parents who are incarcerated and their children. The growth in the number of females in the Hawaiian prison population is noted, as well as the State's use of Oklahoma and Arizona private prisons for approximately 24% of its felons. Information is provided on the characteristics of incarcerated parents, Hawaii's prison population profile and trends, negative impact of parental incarceration on children, parents, and families, and problems with policy and practices. The costs and benefits of incarcerating parents are also examined. Recommendations are then made for both the State and federal governments and include systematically gathering accurate information about incarcerated parents in Hawaii and their families, mandating consultation with incarcerated parents when decisions about their children are contemplated, and providing professional inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment, both in prison and in community settings. 1 table and 54 references.