Donation Campaign

Family members of incarcerated individuals are often referred to as "hidden victims" — victims of the criminal justice system who are neither acknowledged nor given a platform to be heard. These hidden victims receive little personal support and do not benefit from the systemic societal mechanisms generally available to direct crime victims, despite their prevalence and their similarities to direct crime victims. 

 Children whose parents are involved in the criminal justice system, in particular, face a host of challenges and difficulties: psychological strain, antisocial behavior, suspension or expulsion from school, economic hardship, and criminal activity. It is difficult to predict how a child will fare when a parent is intermittently or continually incarcerated, and research findings on these children's risk factors are mixed.  

 However, research suggests that the strength or weakness of the parent-child bond and the quality of the child and family's social support system play significant roles in the child's ability to overcome challenges and succeed in life. Therefore, it is critical that correctional practitioners develop strong partnerships with law enforcement, public schools, and child welfare agencies to understand the unique dynamics of the family in question and try to ensure a safety net for the child and successful re-entry for the incarcerated parent.  

The massive increase in incarceration in the United States has been well publicized. In the 1970s, there were around 340,000 Americans incarcerated; today, there are approximately 2.3 million. One consequence of this dramatic increase is that more mothers and fathers with dependent children are in prison. Since the war on drugs began in the 1980s, for example, the rate of children with incarcerated mothers has increased 100 percent, and the rate of those with incarcerated fathers has increased more than 75 percent. 

Current estimates of the number of children with incarcerated parents vary. One report found that the number of children who have experienced parental incarceration at least once in their childhood may range from 1.7 million to 2.7 million. If this estimate is on target, that means 11 percent of all children may be at risk The rate of parenthood among those incarcerated is roughly the same as the rate in the general population: 50 percent to 75 percent of incarcerated individuals report having a minor child.  I created Child Sync to help us all sync together and help these kids left behind. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and that's exactly what I'm trying to do here. I'd like to provide free transportation for children to go visit their parents in jail/prison. I would like to also help those parents that are 9  hours away and provide airfare and a trusted chaperone if needed to accompany the child onto the plane and off to visit the parent.  I'd like to educate parents in prison about trauma and the developing child's brain. I believe that if people know better, they do better. For the most part. So many of us were raised in toxic homes and don't know basic things about raising healthy children, let alone the complex but very important effects of trauma on children. Parents can traumatize their children and not even realize they are doing so.   

I'm constantly thinking up and  then dumping ideas for programs. If anyone has any ideas for new programs I'd love to hear them. The important part is that it must help bring families together! Shoot me an email at jsullivan@exconmom.com