1 in 10 Michigan Kids Has Parent in Prison: Kids Count

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About 228,000 children in Michigan — about one in 10 kids — had at least one parent in prison, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation recommending policy reforms it says would help millions of children struggling with financial and emotional issues because of parental incarceration.

Michigan tied with six other states for the third highest incarceration rate of parents, according to “A Shared Sentence: The Devastating Toll of Parental Incarceration of Kids, Families and Communities,” a Kids Count policy report released Monday.

The report covered the years 2011 and 2012.

But the percentages are deceiving.

Michigan children had the fifth-highest number of children with parents behind bars nationwide. States with higher totals were:

• California: 503,000 (5 percent)
• Texas: 477,000 (7 percent)
• Florida: 312,000 (8 percent)
• Ohio: 271,000 (10 percent)

Nationally, more than 5 million children have experienced the separation of a parent due to incarceration, which research shows can have as much impact on a child’s well-being as abuse or domestic violence.

“Our nation’s overreliance on incarceration has left millions of children poorer, less stable and emotionally cut off from the most important relationship of their young lives,” Patrick McCarthy, president and CEO of the Casey Foundation, said in a statement. “We are calling on states and communities to act now, so that these kids — like all kids — have equal opportunity and a fair chance for the bright future they deserve.”

The policy recommendations are aimed at supporting children both while their parents are incarcerated and after they return; helping parents find employment once they’re released from prison; and strengthening communities — particularly those disproportionately affected by incarceration and reentry, to promote family stability.

Scott Spencer, the foundation’s associate director of policy and influence, said it’s “alarming to see” eight states, including Michigan, with double-digit percentages of children with an incarcerated parent.

He noted that racial disparities are also “a distressing reality, because the likelihood that African-American and Latino kids will have a parent incarcerated is about seven and three times greater than their white peers, respectively.”

The foundation made the following policy recommendations

Judges

• Consider the impact on kids and families when making sentencing and decisions about where parents will be confined.
• Require courts to inform local social service agencies and community-based organizations when a parent is incarcerated so he or she can connect with families.

Community Organizations

• Build family connections and offer programs and resources tailored to children with incarcerated parents.
• Provide family counseling and parenting courses through prisons and in neighborhoods.

Local Governments

• Create additional pathways to employment for ex-offenders with anchor institutions, such as hospitals and universities, to ensure economic inclusion.

States

• Direct more funds toward prison education and training for in-demand jobs to help parents resume their role as providers once released.
• Minimize the negative effects of a criminal record once a parent has successfully reentered society through “ban the box” policies.
• Facilitate access for affected families to financial, legal, childcare and housing assistance.
• Enable families impacted by incarceration to access Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs to cover basic needs and become self-sufficient.
• Provide incentives to housing authorities and private landlords to allow people with records to access safe, affordable housing.