How To Info How to info
This page provides a continually-updated list of tools, guides, and resources to assist teachers, school staff, youth, parents, and youth-serving organizations in caring for and supporting children who have an incarcerated parent. Stay tuned to this page for additional new resources as they become available.
NEW! See Us, Support Us Youth Poster (PDF, 1 page)
This poster features a youth, Maison’s, winning See Us, Support Us art contest entry and is meant to be displayed where youth can see it to respond to the text, “If you or a friend has a family member who has been in prison or jail, please let us know so we may share supportive resources.” There is a space at the bottom for organizations to add their own personalized information on where youth can go to get help.
NEW! Guide for Families Experiencing the Criminal Justice System: Guide for Arrest, Jail Time/Detention, Trial/Hearing, and Sentencing Stages (Guide 1 of 3) (PDF, 9 pages)
Families have unique needs and challenges when a parent is arrested. When this happens, family members—including the children—are affected. This guide covers the first four stages in the typical criminal justice process: arrest (entry into the system), jail time/detention (prosecution and pretrial services), hearing/trial (adjudication), and sentencing (before incarceration).
NEW! Guide for Families Experiencing the Criminal Justice System: Guide for Incarceration Stage (Guide 2 of 3) (PDF, 11 pages)
Families and children have unique needs when a parent is incarcerated. When this happens, a family gets involved with the criminal justice system in stages. The tips and tools in this guide aim to help families care for the children of incarcerated parents by maintaining and strengthening communication, managing and strengthening relationships, and managing stress and emotions and promoting self-care and care for the children during the incarceration stage.
NEW! Guide for Families Experiencing the Criminal Justice System: Guide for Reentry Stage (Guide 3 of 3) (PDF, 6 pages)
Families and children have unique needs when a parent is incarcerated. When this happens, a family gets involved with the justice system in stages. These questions and tips about reentry will promote a family’s ability to keep and strengthen communication and relationships, manage stress and emotions, and prioritize the caregiver’s self-care and care for the children.
For Parents, Caregivers, and Families
Guide for Incarcerated Parents Who Have Children in the Child Welfare System (PDF, 34 pages)
The purpose of this guide is to help parents involved in the criminal justice system work with the child welfare system to stay in touch with their children and stay involved in decisions about their children’s well-being. The guide also includes important information on steps required by the child welfare system for reunification, or having children return home to their family after foster care. Child welfare and social work professionals may also benefit from this guide to inform work with incarcerated parents, their children, and the caregivers.
Tip Sheet for Incarcerated Parents: Planning for a Visit from Your Child/Children
Visitation can be an important and meaningful experience for incarcerated parents and their children, but it can also be a source of stress and anxiety when parents’ or children’s expectations do not align with what ends up happening. Many aspects of visitation are outside of the control of an incarcerated parent, but there are things you can do to anticipate problems and reduce stress to make visitation a positive and beneficial experience for everyone involved. Included in the tip sheet are things to consider when planning for a visit from your child.
Sesame Street Resources
Sesame Workshop’s initiative — Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration — provides much-needed bilingual (English/Spanish) multimedia tools for families with young children (ages 3-8) who have an incarcerated parent. These FREE resources include a resource kit with A Guide for Parents and Caregivers, a Children’s Storybook, and a new Sesame Street video; an Incarcerated Parent Tip Sheet; and the Sesame Street: Incarceration mobile app for smart phones and tablets.
For Law Enforcement and Corrections Personnel
Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents Roll Call Training Video
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) collaborated on the creation of the Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents Roll Call Training Video based on the IACP/BJA Model Policy.
Safeguarding Children at the Time of Parental Arrest Law Enforcement Pre-Arrest/Arrest Checklist (PDF, 2 pages)
The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, in partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, created a checklist that provides strategies to lessen the potential harmful effects of parental arrest on children and youth.
Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents: Trauma Prevention Policy (PDF, 38 pages)
The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, in partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, created a policy that reflects input from subject-matter experts and stakeholders, providing strategies for law enforcement to improve their procedures for interactions with children when a parent is arrested.
Tip Sheet for Prison/Jail Staff and Volunteers: Supporting Children Who Have an Incarcerated Parent
Prison and jail staff and volunteers play an important role in facilitating visits and helping make visits a positive experience for children with incarcerated parents. Visits from family members can help promote strong family ties and have been shown to decrease recidivism. For children, visits are an important way to maintain the relationship with their incarcerated parent, which can have important implications on a child’s behavior and mental health. Staff and volunteers are the first and last individuals that children see in the facility; their support of family visits can set an important tone that parent-child relationships are valued and important.
Training Key 1 — Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents: An Overview (PDF, 6 pages)
Part I of this two-part Training Key® on children of arrested parents from the International Association of Chiefs of Police focuses on providing an overview of the topic, defining key terms used in the discussion, and outlining the legal obligations that govern the actions of officers when confronted with these situations.
Training Key 2 — Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents: Coordination and Response (PDF, 6 pages)
Part II of this two-part Training Key® on children of arrested parents from the International Association of Chiefs of Police focuses on recommended policies and procedures.
Video Visiting in Corrections: Benefits, Limitations, and Implementing Considerations
This guide from the National Institute of Corrections can help inform administrators working in correctional settings about the benefits and challenges of using “video visiting,” in which incarcerated individuals communicate with family members via video conferencing technology or virtual software programs. The guide includes three chapters that address: (1) reasons to consider video visiting; (2) implementation considerations; and (3) evaluation of a video visiting program.
For School Administration, Teachers, and Staff
Supporting Youth with Incarcerated Parents: For School Staff
This video and discussion guide are designed for school staff who provide direct supports and services to students: teachers, administrators, and support staff (e.g., school social worker, psychologist, guidance counselor, librarian, art teacher, PE teacher, cafeteria worker, custodian, bus driver). School staff contributed to the planning and content and several are featured in the video.
Tip Sheet for Teachers (Pre-K through 12): Supporting Children Who Have an Incarcerated Parent
School staff make a difference in the lives of all children, including children of incarcerated parents. For the child with a parent in prison, a safe and supportive school can provide a caring, stable setting offering opportunities for educational, social, and emotional development. The bonds and relationships fostered at school with peers and trusted adults play a vital role in the child’s short and long term learning and maturation. This tip sheet describes five things to know about children who have an incarcerated parent and how teachers can contribute to positive outcomes for children who have an incarcerated parent.
Webinar: Educators are Critical Partners in Making A Difference in the Lives of Children of Incarcerated Parents
On September 24, 2015, the Federal Interagency Reentry Council (FIRC) Subcommittee on Children of Incarcerated Parents and the American Institutes for Research hosted the webinar, Educators are Critical Partners in Making A Difference in the Lives of Children of Incarcerated Parents. This presentation and Q&A session provided the audience with statistics on the prevalence of children with incarcerated parents, practical tips for addressing the needs of these children and youth, and how to use collaboration, focused assistance, and advocacy to contribute to positive outcomes for children who have an incarcerated parent. Presenters included nationally-recognized experts, educators who are currently addressing the needs of children of incarcerated parents, and a youth whose parent is incarcerated.
For Child Welfare/Social Work and Clinical Professionals
Supporting Youth with Incarcerated Parents: For Social Workers
This video and discussion guide are designed for social workers who may come in contact with children of incarcerated parents. They are intended for the larger world of social work, including those who work in clinical settings, community and faith based organizations, schools, child welfare, juvenile justice, adult corrections, etc. Professional social workers contributed to the planning and content and several are featured in the video.
Child Welfare Practice With Families Affected by Parental Incarceration
This Bulletin for Professionals provides an overview of the intersection of child welfare and parental incarceration; highlights practices to facilitate parent-child visits during incarceration, include parents in case planning, and work toward reunification; and points to resources to help caseworkers in their practice with these children and families. The bulletin is available in HTML and PDF on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website.
The Adoption and Safe Families Act: Barriers to Reunification between Children and Incarcerated Parents
This information packet, developed by the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections and featured on the Children’s Bureau website, addresses how certain provisions of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) create barriers to reunification for incarcerated mothers. The packet also includes information about amendments that some states have made to ASFA to address these issues, best practice tips for working with children of incarcerated parents, and other related resources.
The Antisocial Behavior of the Adolescent Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Developmental Perspective
The Antisocial Behavior of the Adolescent Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Developmental Perspective, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, discusses the link between parent incarceration and antisocial behavior in adolescents, how it develops overtime, why this issue is important to address, and how to address it.
A Toolkit for Working With Children of Incarcerated Parents
Created jointly by the Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR) within the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), Health and Recovery Services Administration and DSHS’ Office of Planning, Performance and Accountability, and featured on the Children’s Bureau website, this web-based training toolkit provides practitioners with the skills required to respond to the needs of children of parents who are in prison or have an incarceration history.
When a Parent is Incarcerated
Developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and featured on the Children’s Bureau’s website, this guide provides information to public child welfare agencies and caseworkers on working with incarcerated parents and their children. Goals of the primer include familiarizing child welfare professionals with the impact of incarceration and providing information to child welfare and correctional systems to help improve permanency outcomes for children.
For Multiple Audiences
Effects of Parental Incarceration on Young Children
As part of their project, From Prison to Home: The Effects of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families and Communities, The Department of Health and Human Services funded a comprehensive brief, Effects of Parental Incarceration on Young Children that addresses the reactions of chldren with incarcerated parents, as well as: ways of modifying those effects, programs that can help both the parent and the child, how to adopt a whole family approach and why this discussion should inform research and policy issues.
Infographic: Children of Incarcerated Parents — The Impact of Incarceration (PDF, 2 pages)
Seven percent of all children under the age of 18 – that’s more than 5 million children — have lived with a parent who went to jail or prison. Learn more about children of incarcerated parents and the financial impact of incarceration on families.
Mentoring for Children of Incarcerated Parents
This review developed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s National Mentoring Resource Center examines research on mentoring for children of incarcerated parents and includes insights and recommendations for practice based on currently available knowledge.
Parental Incarceration and Child Wellbeing: An Annotated Bibliography (PDF, 17 pages)
This annotated bibliography focuses on quantitative research on the consequences of paternal and maternal incarceration for children that (1) attempts to control for selection using standard statistical techniques, (2) uses broadly representative data, and (3) differentiates consequences of paternal incarceration from consequences of maternal incarceration. Although this bibliography focuses primarily on research in the United States, a small number of studies using data from European countries are also included (and many additional studies in that vein are also included in the further readings section so that interested readers will be able to read more in this area).
Promising Practices Toolkit: Working with Drug Endangered Children and Their Families (PDF, 27 pages)
This toolkit, developed by the Department of Justice’s Federal Interagency Task Force on Drug Endangered Children, aims to help professionals serving drug-endangered children by identifying promising practices in the field, as well as why these practice works and resources to assist in their implementation.
Tip Sheet for Mentors: Supporting Children Who Have an Incarcerated Parent
Mentors can play an important role in addressing the needs of children of incarcerated parents. Mentors are caring adults who work with youth as positive role models in a formal or informal way, offering consistent guidance and support. Youth connect with mentors through youth-serving organizations, including community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, businesses, and after-school programs. Mentors can help improve outcomes for the children of incarcerated parents by using research-based practices and effective supports.
Tips for Parents, Teachers, and Other Caregivers for Talking with Children Who Have Experienced Traumatic Events (PDF, 33 pages)
This presentation, developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, discusses typical responses that children and youth of specific ages may display after experiencing a traumatic event, as well as how parents, caregivers, and teachers can support recovery for young people of all ages.
Tip Sheet for Providers: Supporting Children Who Have an Incarcerated Parent
This tip sheet was written by youth who have or have had incarcerated parents for service providers who work with them or may interact with them. The purpose is to provide practical advice for how to help the 2.7 million children and youth who have at least one incarcerated parent.
For Youth
Tip Sheet for Youth: Youth Supporting Fellow Youth Who Have an Incarcerated Parent
This tip sheet was written by youth who have or have had incarcerated parents for service providers who work with them or may interact with them. The purpose is to provide practical advice for how to help the 2.7 million children and youth who have at least one incarcerated parent.
» Learn more about Children of Incarcerated Parents at youth.gov/COIP.
» Join the Children of Incarcerated Parents listserv.
