|
OSPI established its Children of Incarcerated Parents Support Program as a direct effort to improve services to those children with parents in prison. These children face many challenges, and efforts are underway to support educators serving these children statewide. House Bill 1422, passed in 2007, established an interagency Advisory Committee to gather data related to children of incarcerated parents, identify programs to serve their needs, and to eliminate policy (and other) barriers that prevent a child from receiving support.
Regular contact between an incarcerated parent and his or her child can decrease the chances of the parent reoffending, and decrease the chances of the child going to prison later in life. According to a Pacific Lutheran University study, over 27,000 children have a parent in a Washington State prison. Current estimates project as many as 96,000 children have a parent either state prison, federal prison, community corrections or local jail in Washington State.
The Advisory Committee will work to increase awareness, remove policy barriers and provide tools to support the work of local schools and communities. Committee members make presentations at various state-wide conferences and use other methods to expand awareness of the needs of these children.
We would like to thank you for visiting our
site. Currently the site is under construction. If you should have any
questions, contact Greg Williamson for questions and inquiries about the
Children of Incarcerated Parents Support Program.
|