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CJA Blog > Welcome to the CJA Blog

Welcome to the CJA Blog. CJA fulfills its mission in part by working for systemic change. This blog will share information and resources related to children of incarcerated parents.

Children suffer when their parents go to prison.  They experience:

• Parental loss. Separation from a parent for any reason can be traumatic for children (Lowenstein 1986; Miller 2006).
• Stigma and Shame. Caregivers may tell children to keep their parent’s imprisonment secret.  Schoolmates tease. (Fritsch and Burkhead 1981; Sherman 1993)
• New Living Arrangements. Up to 29% of children are separated from siblings as a result of parental arrest (Harm and Thompson, 1995). Another study found only one in eleven older children of prisoners had lived continuously with a primary caregiver since birth (Johnston, 1991).
• Increased poverty. Children who lose a parent to prison further suffer by losing that parent’s income, difficult for families already living in poverty (U.S. Department of Justice, 1994)

Parental incarceration impacts already vulnerable children - a parent’s imprisonment may represent just one risk factor to a child’s healthy development within a larger family context of drug abuse, violence, crime and disadvantage (Wright and Seymour 2000).

Having a parent who is or has been jailed, imprisoned, on parole or probation is linked to worse outcomes for the children than any other single factor, including involvement with the child welfare system or homelessness.  Such children face:

• A doubled risk of mental health problems (Phillips and Gleeson 2007)
• Foster care - 41% of children in Oregon’s foster care system have a parent who is a convicted felon (Oregon DHS data).
• Trouble in school with below-average academic performance (Stanton 1980), leading to increased drop out rates (Trice & Brewster 2004).  
• A higher likelihood of committing crimes as adults (Murray and Farrington 2005).
• 80 percent of the children need state services including mental health, child welfare, alcohol/drug, and juvenile rehabilitation services (Nearing, et al. 2008).

Over the coming months this blog will provide updates on the issues facing children of criminal justice involved parents and will share research and innovative programs addressing those issues.

We believe it is possible to break the cycle of intergenerational criminality and stabilize families involved in the criminal justice system.

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