a public defender

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Where We Live, NPR’s local daily radio show dedicated the entirety of today’s episode to the issue of children with incarcerated parents.

Here’s a 2007 Sentencing Project report on children with incarcerated parents. These are the highlights:

• In 2007, 1.7 million minor children had a parent in prison, an 82% increase since 1991.
• One in 43 American children has a parent in prison, with particularly broad racial/ethnic variation.
• One in 15 black children and 1 in 42 Latino children has a parent in prison, compared to 1 in 111 white children.
• In 2007, there were 809,800 parents incarcerated in U.S. state and federal prisons, an increase of 79% since 1991.
• In 2007, half (52%) of all incarcerated men and women were parents.
• In 2004, 59% of parents in a state correctional facility and 45% of parents in a federal correctional facility reported never having had a personal visit from their child(ren).
• Two-thirds of the incarcerated parent population is non-white.
• From 1991 to 2007, the number of incarcerated mothers increased by 122%, compared to a rise of 76% for incarcerated fathers.

If you want to get involved by mentoring kids with parents in jail, read some details here.