The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study (Felitti and Anda et al). This monumental study uses a simple scoring method to determine the extent of study participant’s exposure to childhood trauma (ACEs). They then followed up on the short and long-term health effects (physical and psychological) on study participants. An ACE is defined as an experience of a childhood trauma, which includes forms of abuse and exposure to violence as well as the incarceration of a household member.   The website also includes an article summarizing results of the study.

The High Cost of Adverse Childhood Experiences (Family Policy Council 2007). This presentation succinctly summarizes the links between childhood trauma, brain adaptations and long and short term health risks. 

The Effects of Childhood Stress On Health Across the Lifespan (US DHHS CDC 2008). This report succinctly summarizes the short and long-term effects on children of chronic and/or severe stress, including incarceration of a family member. Data focuses on the results of the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study.

Children of Incarcerated Parents, Responding to the Needs: Surveying the Landscape of Programs and Services (Adalist-Estrin 2008) This PowerPoint presentation takes a trauma-focused approach in summarizing the experiences of children of the incarcerated while suggesting directions for service providers and policy makers.

Broken Bonds: Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Children with Incarcerated Parents (Vigne, Davies, Brazzell, Urban Institute 2008). This report summarizes the changes in daily life that incarceration of a parent can bring to a family, the emotional and behavioral impact on children and protective factors that help children build resilience.

Parental Incarceration and Child Wellbeing in Fragile Families (Fragile Families Research Brief, Princeton/Columbia 2008) This paper summarizes an extensive study of urban families who have had an incarcerated parent, including effects on economic outcomes, family stability, child development and other factors.

Families Left Behind: The Hidden Costs of Incarceration and Reentry (Travis, McBride, Solomon, Urban Institute 2005). Oriented towards social service providers, this report summarizes developmental effects of parental incarceration on children, how imprisonment alters family dynamics, challenges and benefits of visitation and contact, challenges of reunification and reintegration and the role that families can play in providing support and stabilization.

The Antisocial Behavior of the Adolescent Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Developmental Perspective (Eddy and Reid, OSLC, 2002). This study summarizes the relationship between parent’s criminality and the antisocial behaviors of some adolescents with incarcerated parents, behaviors and symptoms that children and youth display when a parent is incarcerated, the effect of education programs in prison for parents, and effective interventions that can assist adolescent children of the incarcerated.

Childhood Loss and Behavioral Problems: Loosening the Links (Viboch, Vera 2005). This article explains the connection between parental incarceration and child misbehavior, the effects of grief and loss, responding effectively to children’s feelings of loss, helping kids understand parental incarceration, and fostering stability and security for children.

Risk and Resilience in Young Children of Incarcerated Mothers (Poehlman, NIDA conference presentation 2006). This article summarizes research on children with incarcerated mothers, including mother’s offenses, developmental risks for children, children’s developmental outcomes, attachment issues for children, the impact of caregivers on children of the incarcerated, children’s problem behaviors by gender, and factors that increase the resilience of children.

What Health and Wellness Professionals Need to Know When Working with Children with Incarcerated Parents (Hope House 2008). This article outlines the critical role social service providers play in identifying and supporting children who have a parent in jail or prison, and the key issues such providers need to understand in order to make a difference for these children.

Building Parental Resilience for Fathers in Criminal Justice System

Fit Fathers, Successful Families, Inside & Out integrates a research‐based social and fathering skills educational program for incarcerated fathers and/or fathers participating in other
forms of community transition programming with yoga. Pilot studies in Chelan County Regional Justice Center (CCRJC) in 2009‐2010 of more than 150 participating parents demonstrated
significant changes in participating fathers’ parental resilience.

Presenter: Jennifer Crawford, Extension Faculty, Human Development Washington State University

Criminal Justice Involved Youth Served by DSHS: Individual and Family Risk Factors

This presentation will summarize an analysis of young teens and transition age clients with histories of receiving child protective services who were also involved with the criminal justice system.
Risk profiles, including DSHS services, behavioral health and chronic medical conditions, emergency department visits, arrests, homelessness spells, and employment rates will be presented for all youth and for the biological parents of the younger group.

Presenter: Barb Lucenko, Senior Research Manager, Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS)

Consequences of Having Many Other Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) For Adults who had an Incarcerated Parent at a Young Age

Having an incarcerated parent at an early age (0‐17) is one of eight ACEs measured by the Behavioral Risk Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey of adults in Washington State in 2009.

Based on these BRFSS data we can show

• The proportion of adults with incarcerated parents statewide and by geography
• The degree to which the proportion is increasing in younger age groups
• How many other ACEs they have
• The extent to which they are disproportionally poor and members of racial/ethnic minorities, and to what extent ACE prevalence accounts for these disproportionalities.

We cannot assess the magnitude of the rate of intergenerational transmission of a “jailed parent” ACE since we do not know whether these adults have been incarcerated themselves. However we can discuss the evidence ‐ tentative due to currently small survey sample sizes, on the extent to which persons who have had parents jailed have more mental, behavioral and physical disorders, while being themselves parents of young children. Since we know that the actual number of ACEs have been found to be more important than having any given ACE we can see whether this is true for this population as well: assessing the influence of their other ACEs .

Presenter: Dario Longhi, Family Policy Council Consequences of Having Many Other Adverse Childhood

The Experience of Parental Incarceration into Adulthood

Includes findings from my Master’s Thesis, which was based on 20 interviews with adults (aged 18‐40) who experienced the incarceration of a parent as a child. The thesis focused on the long‐lasting impacts of parental incarceration on education, relationships, and criminal activity through the mechanisms of stigmatization, parent‐child communication, and early exposure to the criminal justice system.

Presenter: Emily Knapfus , PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle

Issues Impacting Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children

This presentation will focus on past traumatic experiences, their impact on the mother/child relationship and parenting ability, the significance of maintaining the attachment relationship and empowering mothers to advocate for themselves and their children when they are involved with multiple systems including child welfare, child support, criminal justice, etc. Findings and implications of an exploratory study utilizing the Trauma and Attachment Belief Scale will be presented.

Presenters: Marian S. Harris, Associate Professor, University of Washington, Social Work Program. Lorraine Poe, Student, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, Department, University of Washington Tacoma

Shrinking Budgets and Fiscal Crises: What Two Decades of Research Tells us About How we Might Save Money While Helping Children?

Shrinking state budgets provide an incentive to re‐evaluate and transform how we address the recalcitrant social problems that are both the antecedents and consequences of parental incarceration. This presentation highlights findings from two decades of research on the unintended consequences parental incarceration has for children as well as the public systems that serve them and their families. The implications of this research for universal, selective, and indicated interventions are discussed along with the importance of involving multiple systems and affected groups in planning and implementing transformative changes.

Presenter: Susan Phillips, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work

Washington State: Data and Policy. What Have We Learned? What’s Next?

An overview and discussion of actions taken to address the needs of children and families of the incarcerated in Washington State, including the development of data collection, research and policy changes within Washington State’s social services programs, the growth of data partnerships and practice tools integrating data and practice.

Presenter: Miriam Bearse, Policy Analyst, Department of Social and Health Services, Chair of the CFIP Research Network (WA)

When An Immigrant Parent Gets Arrested: The Intersection of Incarceration, Deportation, and Family Separation

Fiscal year 2010 had the highest number of undocumented immigrants deported in the history of the United States. With increased local police and prisons working in collaboration with federal immigration enforcement agency, we can anticipate greater family separation caused by the deportation of immigrants charged with crimes in 2011. The exact overall number of children impacted by immigration enforcement, including those that end up in the care of child welfare system, is unknown since this information is currently not collected in a consistent way by the Department of Homeland Security or child welfare agencies. There has also been a chilling effect on the willingness of much immigrant community to seek assistance during a crisis, including its impact on domestic violence reporting. This workshop will provide an overview of policy and practice trends involved with the intersection of incarceration, deportation, and family separation.

Presenter: Ann Benson, Directing Attorney, Washington Defender’s Association, Immigration Rights and Incarcerated Parents Incarceration of a Parent and Immigration Issues

The Wide Ranging Health and Social Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences

The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) study looked at approximately 17,000 adults, asking them about traumatic experiences they had prior to age eighteen, including incarceration of a parent. Dr. Anda will illustrate the effects ACEs have on neurological and developmental processes and ongoing health risks.

Presenter:  Rob Anda, Co‐Principal Investigator, Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study