A growing body of research indicates that strong family connections during incarceration is associated with better reentry outcomes, including reduced recidivism.

Research also indicates that positive communication between incarcerated parents and their children can be important for their

credit: The Guardian

child’s well-being.

Maintaining family relationships during incarceration is challenging; including changes in family structure, long distances between the prison facility and family, and limited resources to maintain communication.

However there are policies that correctional facilities can implement to help overcome these challenges, while still maintaining a safe and secure environment.

The goal of this cooperative agreement is for the awardee to develop training materials and implement evidence-informed, model policies that can be adopted by local jails and state prisons to reduce the traumatic impact of parental incarceration on children and improve reentry outcomes for parents.

This project will be modeled on the highly successful “Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents” project that developed a model protocol for police, developed through a collaborative process, to reduce the traumatic impact of parental arrest on children.

The model protocol for police was developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and consisted of a model protocol document, a white paper explaining the development of the protocol, training for implementation through webinars and conference presentations, and a produced training video explaining implementation.

All of these materials are available to download free of charge on IACP’s website:
http://www.iacp.org/cap.

The model policies for corrections would similarly be developed by an organization with expertise in the corrections profession.

They will be developed through a collaborative process that would include subject matter experts in corrections, correctional safety, jail and prison administration as well as child welfare, trauma, and children of incarcerated parents.

These policies and training materials will be developed, distributed, and implemented at pilot sites, with their implementation carefully tracked.