Report: More than 135K children in Arizona have incarcerated parents
Apr 27, 2016, 5:00 AM
PHOENIX — More than 135,000 children in Arizona have parents who are or have been incarcerated, according to a recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The study, which was conducted in 2012, found that nine percent of Arizona children had experienced parent incarceration. The number equated to a total of 138,000 kids.
Nationwide, more than five million children had at least one parent who was in jail or prison at some point throughout their childhood.
The study showed children with incarcerated parents are less likely to live in communities with people and resources that they can turn to for support.
This often leads to a negative impact on the family, a drain on surrounding community resources and introduces obstacles for the parent who is trying to reintegrate themselves into the area, especially for employment.
Tara Laurie, founder of the Chandler-based Youth World Education Project, said children who have an incarcerated parent often suffer traumatically.
“These kids now have different traumas that a child with their father in their life wouldn’t have, such as anxiety, depression (and) lower grades in school,” she said.
Laurie added that children who see their parents go off to jail or prison are more often to end up in the same scenario, causing a never-ending cycle.
“There’s more aggression and they’re more likely…themselves, to end up incarcerated,” she said.
Organizations such as the Youth World Education Project work to combat these issues by building communities and establishing support systems.
Laurie said her organization has started a program called Inside Dads, which involves working with incarcerated parents to repair and rebuild their personal relationships.
“We go into the prisons prior to them being released and we work with them (for) three to six months,” she said. “We’re helping them to build that relationship and/or reconnect with the families.”
