Understanding the Needs and Experiences of Children of Incarcerated Parents

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Abstract

In order to better understand the experiences and needs of children with incarcerated parents, Urban Institute researchers sought the perspectives of mentors who work closely with these children. In partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations in Baltimore, Maryland; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Washington, D.C., researchers convened seven focus groups with mentors of children with incarcerated parents. Discussions focused on the children's living situations, relationships with their incarcerated parents and other family members, and emotional and behavioral outcomes. Findings reveal considerable variation within this population, including significant differences in the experiences of children with incarcerated mothers and those with incarcerated fathers.

Introduction

In 2007, the Annie E. Casey Foundation provided funding to the Urban Institute (UI) to undertake several tasks that would expand current understanding of the impact of a parental incarceration on children. As part of the project, the Urban Institute partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) organizations to obtain a qualitative perspective on the experiences and needs of children with incarcerated parents through a series of focus groups with adult volunteers mentoring those children. The following report describes the results of the focus groups, with particular attention to differences within this population and to comparisons to similar children who do not have a parent involved in the criminal justice system.

The focus groups drew on participants' experiences working with children of incarcerated parents to explore a series of questions:

• What are the family situations of these children?
• What were their relationships with their parents prior to incarceration?
• Who is caring for them now?
• How is the parent-child relationship maintained or disrupted during incarceration?
• How does parental incarceration affect children emotionally, behaviorally, and developmentally?
• What are the needs and challenges of children with incarcerated parents?
• How do these needs differ from those of other at-risk children?

This report describes the focus group methodology and then explores several key themes that emerged during the focus groups in response to the questions outlined above. Although our findings cannot be generalized to the entire population of children with incarcerated parents, they raise valuable questions and can provide a launching point for future research on the impact of parental incarceration. Throughout the report, effort is made to synthesize and present insights in a way that is useful to individuals working in the field as well as to those conducting research on this population of children.

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The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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