Resources
Statistics
According to the latest Department of Justice statistics, published in 2008:
- Nationally, more than 1.7 million children under the age of 18 have at least one incarcerated parent.
- 63% of federal inmates and 52% of state inmates have at least one child under the age of 18.
- Between 1991 and 2007, parents held in state and federal prisons increased by 79%. Children of incarceratd parents increased by 80%.
- The number of children under age 18 with a mother in prison more than doubled since 1991.
A Washington State Department of Social and Health Services study published in 2008 reported that children of incarcerated parents use Department services at much higher rates than their system-involved peers who do not have an ever incarcerated parent.
- 80% of children born to ever incarcerated parents use DSHS services.
- Children of ever incarcerated parents use a wide range of services including, mental health services, child-protective services, foster care, economic services such as food stamps and TANF funds, medical assistance services, achohol and drug treatment services, and juvenile rehabilitation services.
Children of ever incarcerated parents have more risk factors for criminogenic behavior and involvement in the criminal justice system than do their peers whose parents have not been involved in the criminal justice system.