Children and Parental Incarceration
Echoes of Incarceration is an award-winning documentary initiative produced by youth with incarcerated parents. The project explores the issue of mass incarceration and its effects on families, and creates documentary films told from the life experiences of the filmmakers themselves. (6 films, 2009 – present)
Children of the Incarcerated 1 in 28 children in the United States have a parent behind bars. For African American children, that number is 1 in 9. Inside Out talks to Shaquille Mualimm-ak, from incarceratednationcampaign.org about his experience coping with having a parent behind bars. We also sit down for an in-depth conversation with Author and Professor Alan Singer & talk about the causes and effects of having a parent incarcerated. (2015, 16 minutes)
Why and How Policymakers Should Support Family Connections During Incarceration R Street Institute. While incarceration is an individual punishment, in reality, it tangibly impacts millions of Americans. Mothers and fathers are separated from their children, adolescents from their parents and siblings from their best friend. (2020, 1½ hours)
Raising Kids in the System. CNN. How three women are finding ways to parent within the criminal justice system. Ramsey County Correctional Facility, St. Paul, MN (Minnesota Prison Doula Project); Hour Children (Queens, NYC); Justice Home (Bronx). (2019, 27 minutes)
How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime | Nadine Burke Harris: TED Talk Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime. (2015, 16 minutes)
Children of Prison Inmates This program inspires children of inmates to read more often, connects children and incarcerated parents through stories. (2014 – 2020, 12 short videos)
Justice in America, Episode 23: Criminalizing Mothers One of the most devastating collateral consequences for someone involved in the criminal justice system is the potential destruction of their family – most commonly parents losing custody of kids and children being forced into foster care. (2020, 70 minutes)
Incarceration Tool Kit | Sesame Street: Little Children, Big Challenges: Nylo Talks about Incarceration Nylo talks with Murray about his mom's incarceration. (2013, ~ 2 minutes)
Project What! Presents Bill of Rights: Everywhere and Talking Community Works. Project WHAT! Youth Advocates. Behind every parent in jail or prison, there are children who are serving time as well. (Several children talk about their experiences when their parents were incarcerated. (3½ minutes)
ScholarCHIPS Student Testimonials provide college scholarships, mentoring and a peer support network to children of incarcerated parents, inspiring them to complete their college education. (~ 7 minutes)
Yasmine founded and currently leads ScholarCHIPS to provide support to youth who have an incarcerated parent and reduce the shame and stigma. As the child of an incarcerated parent, she believes in empowering youth to reach their potential through mentorship and guidance. (2018, ~ 1½ minutes)
Connecting Kids with Incarcerated Parents Having a parent in prison is incredibly hard for families. The Women's Storybook Project is trying to relieve some of the stress on kids and moms alike by simply enabling mothers to read to their kids. (2018, 3½ minutes)
You Weren’t With Me. A book that addresses the tumultuous, intense and complex feelings that children confront when they are separated from their mother.
Children of Incarcerated Parents
Bibliography of Resources about Caring for Children of Incarcerated Parents
FREE (Freedom House Reentry Education and Employment Corp.) is a not-for-profit organization that provides wraparound services to formerly incarcerated adults, veterans and their children. Children With Incarcerated Parents (CWIP).
Children of Incarcerated Parents Justice Strategies.
Child Welfare
National Coalition for Child Protection Reform VIDEO: Understanding Child Welfare Molly McGrath, the Director of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services tells you just about everything you need to know about child welfare and foster care in America. (2014, 11 minutes)
Children’s Bureau (US Department of Health & Human Services)
Spotlight on Knowing the Difference Between Poverty and Neglect
Led by parents impacted by the child welfare system, Rise believes that parents have the answers for their families and communities. Rise Magazine is written by parents who have faced the child welfare system in their own lives.
Shriver Center on Poverty Law: Spotlight on the Foster System Webinar Series:
Moving from Why to How: Parent Leaders' Perspectives on the Movement for Child Welfare Justice (2020, 1½ hours)
Policing by Another Name: Mandated Reporting as State Surveillance (2020, 1½ hours)
The Carceral Web: How the Foster and Criminal Legal Systems Perpetuate Injustice (2020, slides only)
Your Family or Its Health: Intersections Between the Healthcare and Foster Systems (2021, 1½ hours.)
Talking to Children about Race, Racism, & Diversity
How to Talk to Kids About Race “The worst conversation adults can have with kids about race is no conversation at all,” says author Jemar Tisby. “Talking to kids about race needs to happen early, often, and honestly.” (2018, 3 minutes)
Talking to Young Children About Race and Racism. PBS offers a variety of resources including TV specials, article suggestions, book recommendations, and a virtual video discussion on “Talking to Children Authentically About Race and Racism.” (2020, ~ 30 minutes)
Raising Antiracist Kids: Empowering the Next Generation of Changemakers. Discussion about raising anti-racist children with author Derecka Purnell and Ibram X.Kendi, author of the book, AntiRacist Baby. (2020, 1 hour, 20 minutes)
Systemic Racism Explained Systemic racism affects every area of life in the US. From incarceration rates to predatory loans and trying to solve these problems requires changes in major parts of our system. Here's a closer look at what systemic racism is, and how we can solve it. (2019, ~ 4 minutes)
Videos of Children’s Books
Shades of People by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly (2 minutes)
Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin (2½ minutes)
A Kids Book About Racism by Jelani Memory (4 minutes)
The Skin You Live In Book by Michael Tyler (~ 8 minutes)
It's Okay to Be Different — a Read-Aloud with Todd Parr (~ 3 minutes)
Same Difference (A Children's Book Story by Calida Rawles) - Official Video (5 minutes)
We’re Different, We’re the Same by Bobbi Jane Kates (~ 3 minutes)
Elmer (the Patchwork Elephant) (4 minutes)
Rebecca Reads: Heather Has Two Mommies (6 minutes)
Mommy, Mama, and Me (2 minutes)
A Tale of Two Mommies (3 minutes)
Talking Race with Young Children. NPR (2019, 20 minutes)
Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Kids: Healthline Parenthood
Articles
EmbraceRace’s Children’s Book List for Anti-Racist Activism This list is curated to include reading material that can initiate conversations with children about race, racism, and what it means to resist oppression.
The White Parent's Guide to Raising Anti-Racist Kids This Parents.com article offers seven ways white parents can have meaningful conversations with their white children about race.
Infant Development and Adverse Childhood Experiences
Zero to Three: "Early connections last a lifetime"
Vroom: "Using cutting-edge science to help parents unlock their brain-building powers"
Pathways.org provides FREE tools to maximize all children's motor, sensory, and communication developments
Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University: InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Watch the overview video (2009, 4 minutes)
Words to Share with Parents of Newborns, a blog by Lurie Children’s Hospital
The Toxic Stress of Early Childhood Adversity This hour-long video is from the Forum at the Harvard School of Public Health. Evidence suggests that for the youngest children, prolonged or severe exposure to abuse, neglect and economic hardship -- exacerbated by a dearth of stable, supportive relationships with adults -- can provoke a "toxic stress response" with lifelong consequences. (2012, 1 hour)
Video Resource Library Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University (Several short videos, 2011 – 2019)
The Brain Architects Podcast From brain architecture to toxic stress to serve and return, The Brain Architects, a new podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, focuses on the specific, practical questions that often arise for parents and caregivers during the critically important period of early childhood. (2020 - present. Several podcasts, 15 – 38 minutes)
In gratitude to Beth Isaacs and Illinois Birth Justice for the original creation of this list.