Transcript The Children & Families of Inmates The Incarcerated Parents • According to the Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents – In 2004, there were.

The Children & Families of
Inmates
The Incarcerated Parents
• According to the Center for Children of
Incarcerated Parents
– In 2004, there were more than 2,200,000
inmates in the United States
– Sixty-one percent (1,340,000) inmates have
children under the age of eighteen
– This means that 2.3 million minors have at
least one incarcerated parent
Sentence Length
State Prison
Federal Prison
Average sentence
length is over 12
years
Average sentence
length is over 10
years
Forty percent of incarcerated parents reported a
sentence length of over 10 years
Criminal activity
• In both State and Federal prison, a
majority of the parents were
sentenced for violent crimes or drug
related offenses
• More than 4 in 5 parents in State
prison reported some type of past
drug use
Typical Male Offender
• Most have limited education and poor
employment skills.
• The majority do not have a high school
diploma and 12% have less than an 8th
grade education.
• Some have had a family member
incarcerated
• Thirty percent have experienced parental
substance abuse of either alcohol or drugs
Typical Female Offender
• Comes from a single-parent home
• Has a history of substance abuse
• Over half have an immediate family
member who has been incarcerated
• More than a third will be imprisoned again
in 3 years
• Mothers were more likely than fathers to
be sentenced for drug offenses
Prison Visits
• A majority of incarcerated
parents are held more than 100
miles from their last place of
residence.
•There are 57% of fathers and 54%
of mothers who report never
receiving a visit from their children
while incarcerated.
The Children
Twenty-two percent of children with a
parent in prison are under 5 years old
The majority
of children
are under
“10”
15-17 years
10-14 years
5-9 years
1-4 years
Less than 1
year
The
average
age is
“8”
The Children
•
Children of inmates are six times
more likely to go to prison than
their peers
•
They are seven times more likely to
become involved in the Criminal
Justice System.
The Family
• Caregivers often lived with the parents and
children prior to arrest and usually share the
same experiences regarding illicit activity.
• Often hard to find family members who
themselves have not been incarcerated or
have a criminal history.
• Parental arrest can be both a trauma and a
relief
The Problem
3 Broken Relationships
• Family  God
• Family  Inmate
• Family  Community
Broken Relationship
God
Children &
Families
Broken Relationship
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God…”
Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated
you from your God”
Broken Relationship
Incarcerated
Parent
Children &
Families
Broken Relationship
Proverbs 29:15 “The rod of correction
imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself
disgraces his mother.”
Proverbs 22:6 “Train a child in the way
he should go, and when he is old he will
not turn from it.”
Fatherless homes
Fatherless homes account for:
• 63% of youth suicides
• 90% of homeless/runaway children
• 85% of children with behavior problems
• 71% of high school dropouts
• 85% of youth in prison
• 50+% of teen mothers
Fatherless homes
• 70% of juveniles in state-operated
institutions come from fatherless
homes.
• 70% of juveniles in state reform
institutions grew up in single- or noparent situations.
• 85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew
up in a fatherless home.
Financial Impact
• Loss of Income/Services Provided
• Difficulty of Communication
• Collect phone calls are expensive
Emotional Impact
• Five basic development stages for a
child
– Infancy (0 -2 yrs.)
– Early Childhood (2 – 6 yrs)
– Middle Childhood (7 – 10 yrs.)
– Early Adolescence (11 – 14 yrs.)
– Late Adolescence (15 – 18 yrs.)
• Parent-child separation or trauma at any
of these stages has a diverse affect on
the natural development of the child.
Broken Relationship
The
Community
Children &
Families
Broken Relationship
Matthew 25:42-43 “For I was hungry and
you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty
and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a
stranger and you did not invite me in, I
needed clothes and you did not clothe me,
I was sick and in prison and you did not
look after me.”
Negative Stigma
• Children of inmates are six times
more likely to go to prison than their
peers
• This statistic can create a negative
stigma on the child within the
community
Negative Stigma
Anger and Resentment
– The inmate is in a facility with others who have
incurred his same fate; his family, however,
receives a negative social stigma that has several
repercussions:
• Compelled to deceive coworkers, friends, and
family in order to avoid embarrassment
• Harassment from former friends and
acquaintances
• Exclusion from events and society
Loss of Income
The loss of a main source of income
in the family and the additional costs
of communication can lead to
impoverished families and add to the
negative stigma in the eyes of the
community.
Dishonesty
One third of caregivers or families of children with
incarcerated parents will tell the children that their
parents are away in…
 Military Service
 Hospital
 School
… any where other than prison
Broken Relationship
We in the Church are human and many
times don’t respond the way God has
called us to. Many times we don’t
accurately reflect Christ to the least of
these in our midst.
The Solution
Bridging the Gap
Reconciliation
Children &
Family
God
God loves these
children and
families. His heart
goes out to them
and he understands
their pain and
difficult decision.
He desires an
intimate
relationship with
them now and for
eternity.
Many children and
families do not
have a relationship
with God. They
have not placed
their faith in Jesus
and find
themselves
separated from
their Heavenly
Father.
Bridging the Gap
Reconciliation
Romans 3:23-24 “For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God… and are justified
freely by his grace through the redemption
that came by Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 68:5 “A father to the fatherless, a
defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”
Reconciliation
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 “All this is from God, who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave
us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was
reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not
counting men’s sins against them. And he has
committed to us the message of reconciliation.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as
though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled
to God.”
Reconciliation
God can and wants to use us, the Church,
to help reconcile others, including the
children and families of inmates, back to
Himself
We are His vessel and plan to
accomplish His purposes of
reconciliation.
Reconciliation
Children &
Family
Inmate
Children always
think that their
relationship with
their parent is
significant whether
or not their parent
agrees.
Many inmates
choose not to have
their children visit
them in prison or
to be involved in
their child’s daily
life.
Bridging the Gap
Reconciliation
Luke 1:17 “And he will go on before
the Lord, in the spirit and power of
Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers
to their children and the disobedient to
the wisdom of the righteous – to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Reconciliation
• Reconciliation: a spiritual process by
which two or more individuals resolve
past hurts, offenses, bitterness and
unforgiveness.
• Restoration: a rejoining (physically) of
the affected individuals living
harmoniously in the same household. 6
Reconciliation
• Reconciliation involves
– Families discussing their hurt, anger,
and bitterness
• Reconciliation produces:
– An understanding of their loved one’s
pain and being willing to forgive them for
wrongs incurred
Responsibility
For the Inmate
• Take Responsibility
• Take Steps to Change Behavior
• Positive Steps:
– Drug or Alcohol Rehabilitation
– Education
– Job Training
Responsibility
For the Spouse, Caregiver or Other Family
Members
– Find a Support System
• Family Members/Friends
• Community Services
• Local Church
– Express Honest Feelings to the Incarcerated
Family Member
Responsibility
For the Child
– Respecting the age and maturity level of the
child, children should be told the truth about
their parent’s incarceration
– Children should have the opportunity to
express and discuss their feelings regarding
the incarceration.
– Children should maintain contact with the
incarcerated parent.
Child’s needs
Provide a means to build:
• Relationships
• Confidence
• Competence
• Faith
Impact
When supported by their families after
release, ex-inmates are less likely to
use drugs, and more willing to seek
out the medical and social services
that they need in order to make
positive strides toward becoming
contributing members of society.
Impact
The relationship between a child and
his or her parent is significant and can
have a huge impact on the life and
future of that child.
The Church can help in fostering this very
important relationship
Reconciliation
Children &
Family
Community
God desires His
Church to have
compassion for
and look after
those that are
missing parents in
their lives and
those that have
lost their spouse.
There are times
when the children
and families
dealing with
incarceration do
not feel welcomed
by the community
and even the
Church at times.
Bridging the Gap
Reconciliation
James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father
accepts as pure and faultless is this: to
look after orphans and widows in their
distress and to keep oneself from being
polluted by the world.”
Reconciliation
Hebrews 13:3 “Remember those in
prison as if you were their fellow inmates,
and those who are mistreated as if you
yourselves were suffering.”
Romans 15:7 “Accept one another,
then, just as Christ accepted you, in
order to bring praise to God.”
Long-term commitment
• Research confirms the positive impact of healthy
relationships in the life of a inmate’s child
– Relationships greater than 12 months have significant
positive impacts
– Relationships lasting 3 – 6 months had no measurable
impacts
– Relationships lasting less than 3 months have
significant negative impacts
Our response
• Welcome inmates and their families into the
congregation
• Provide necessary services or connect
them with appropriate resources
• Provide a place where inmates’ families feel
welcome
Working Together
• The inmates and their children and
families need many groups of people in
their lives.
• Churches, volunteers, and organization
in each community need to come
together to embrace and help the
families.
The Results
Reconciliation
The Results
• Inmates are reconciled with their families
• Transformation occurs in the lives of the
parents and their children
• The families are accepted and enfolded
into the life of the church and society
The Results
Transformation
Transformation
Opportunity
How can you and your church help
bridge these gaps?