System Change

Children of Incarcerated Parents Project (CIPP)

Since 2006, CJA has delivered its And How Are the Children? summit, a community approach to prioritizing, protecting and parenting children of incarcerated parents in ten Oregon counties. The summit acts as a catalyst, inspiring the county and its community members to commit themselves to systems improvements that will better support children of justice-involved parents and their families. The And How Are the Children? summit raises awareness of the challenges faced by children whose parents are justice-involved and provides strategies for communities and their justice and human service partners to work together to better meet the needs of these children. The issues associated with children of justice-involved parents are community issues and as such are best addressed by a community response. The primary goal of And How Are the Children? is to build a base of understanding and awareness that includes information about the impact of parental criminality on child development, family dynamics and the parent-child relationship.

Most Oregon counties formed work groups, task forces or partner meetings following their participation in And How Are the Children?. These local initiatives keep the communities abreast of the opportunities for, and issues surrounding, children of justice-involved parents. CJA participates in CIPP meetings in its local metro counties and takes a leadership role in connecting all the county groups to one another and to the state CIPP group. The Oregon State CIP meets quarterly and all counties and state level members are invited to participate in Statewide Leadership Summits. The meetings provide an opportunity for partners to share information, announce updates and events, and support one another’s initiatives within the context of improving outcomes and conditions for children with criminal justice involved families.

Positive outcomes resulting from the And How Are the Children? summits include:

  • The Oregon Departments of Corrections and Human Services have worked together to support policies and programs which support the families they encounter. For example, improving visitation for children of incarcerated parents and providing Parenting Inside Out training for parents both in prison and in the community;
  • The development of the Center for Family Success model, which gives communities a roadmap for developing partnerships and delivering services to better meet the needs of children of justice involved parents and their families;
  • The development of jail and prison intake processes that collect information about the children, allowing for their needs to be considered. 
Children’s Justice Alliance
7800 SW Barbur Blvd., Suite 2
Portland, OR 97219