Update Emerging Issues for Incarcerated Parents and Their Children

1
UpdateEmerging Issues for Incarcerated Parents
and Their Children

• Thomas E. Lengyel, MSW, Ph.D.
• Director, Research Evaluation Services
• Alliance for Children and Families
• State Task Force on Children of Incarcerated
  Parents
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Revised September 28, 2005

2
Sponsors

• Child and Family Service
• Blueprint for Change
• Parents and Children Together (PACT)

3
Structure of Presentation

• Cost-benefit analysis of incarceration
• Updates on prison population
• Update on costs/benefits of incarcerating drug
  felons in Hawaii
• Update on policy recommendations

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Review of Cost-benefit Analysis

• Factual Foundations
• Social cost and social benefit
• Elements of social cost
• Elements of social benefit
• Scale of offenses scale of offenders
• Prison as an economic space

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisFactual Foundations (1)

• The majority of prisoners in both state and
  federal prisons are parents with minor children -
  56
• Female prisoners are 6.8 of the total prison
  population men are 93.2
• For state prisoners, 65 of women and 55 of men
  have minor children
• Hawaii may have more parents on average

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisFactual Foundations (2)

• Women prisoners are in worse shape at admission
  than men
• Women with children are worse off than women
  without children
• More drug abuse, alcohol addiction, mental
  illness, homelessness, low educational
  attainment, and poverty
• 10 of mothers children are in foster care 2
  for fathers
• Women prisoners in Hawaii may be worse off than
  their mainland counterparts

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisFactual Foundations (3)

• Women are more expensive to house in prison than
  men
• Expense derives partly from their poorer
  condition on entry and higher need for services
• More mothers (64) than fathers (44) lived with
  their children before admission
• Note This may be an overestimate

8
Cost-Benefit AnalysisFactual Foundations (4)

• Where children live during incarceration depends
  on the prisoners gender
• Children of father-prisoners tend to live with
  their mother, and a few with grandparents
• Children of mother-prisoners live primarily with
  grandparents or other relatives
• Women are the primary caregivers when the mother
  is incapacitated other women take her place

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisThe Nature of Social
Benefit

• Two basic parts to the concept
• Deterrence
• Commission of a crime is averted because the
  potential perpetrator fears the consequences
• Effect is largest with property crimes that have
  low social costs
• Incapacitation
• Commission of a crime is averted because the
  potential perpetrator is unable to commit crime
• Benefit is greatest with violent crimes

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisThe Concept of Social Cost

• Definition Contextual or downstream costs of a
  course of action
• Destroyed resources
• Additional needs generated by an action
• Foregone benefits to society that would have been
  experienced had the action not taken place
• Social cost of prison is distinct from lockup
  cost

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisSocial Costs of
Incarceration (1)

• Direct costs (quantified)
• Presentence investigation and assessment
• Foster care for placed children
• Additional social, health, educational services,
  child care for dependents
• Post-release supervision (parole)
• Lost child support from non-custodial
  incarcerated parents

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisSocial Costs of
Incarceration (2)

• Grey costs (quantifiable research ongoing)
• TANF for dependents caregivers
• Food stamps
• Medicaid/SCHIP
• Housing assistance
• Economists prefer to call these transfer payments

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisSocial Costs of
Incarceration (3)

• Indirect costs (not currently quantified)
• Trauma to children leading to
• Increased special education, physical and mental
  health services, and other support
• Decreased future productivity
• Increased criminality
• Hidden costs (costs born by others - not
  quantified)
• Family supervision of children
• Family housing of parent children post-release

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisSocial Costs of
Incarceration (4)

• Bottom Line Preliminary work suggests direct
  social costs are about twice the cost of lockup
  (see White Paper for details)
• Probably a conservative estimate

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisSocial Benefit of
Incarceration

• Benefit of Incapacitation
• Non-crime related reduction of prison population
  results in 14.7 additional index crimes
• Cost of various index crimes calculable
• Net savings for adding one prisoner is 75,945 in
  reduced index crime (updated to 2005 dollars)

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisSocial Benefit of
Incarceration

• Most costly crimes are murder, assault, and
  robbery
• Accounts for about 56,360 of the effect (2005
  dollars)
• Least costly crimes are burglary, rape, auto
  theft, and larceny
• Each of these crimes costs on average 4,040 per
  crime (2005 dollars)

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisScale of Offenses

• Assumption An offender will tend to commit the
  same type of offense for which they were
  sentenced
• Offense Scale Offenses can be arranged on a
  scale by the social benefit from their avoidance
• Murder gt Assault gt Burglary gt Drug use
• More benefit lt gt Less Benefit

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisScale of Offenders

• Offender Scale
• Offenders can be arranged on a scale by the net
  cost (lockup social cost) of their
  incarceration
• Women w. Men w. Men w/o
• multiple multiple children
• minor children children
• More cost lt gt Less cost

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisPrison as an Economic Space
20
Update Prisoner Census (1)
21
Update Prisoner Census (2)
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Prisoner Census Findings

• Hawaiis prison population has increased about
  8 in the past two years
• Women prisoners increased at more than double the
  rate of men - 15.2
• The number of prisoners held on the mainland has
  grown by 42.5
• The proportion of prisoners held on the mainland
  has increased from 22.5 in 2003 to 29.8 today

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Update Prisoner CensusDrug Felons
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Prisoner Census Findings

• Between June 2003 and August 2005 prisoners
  serving mandatory minimum sentences for drugs
  grew by 37.5
• Almost all the growth was for the lower offense
  categories (B and C)
• The most dramatic growth was for women
  incarcerated for Class C offenses 69.1
• Implication Hawaii is experiencing significant
  growth in categories of prisoners with the
  greatest total cost and the smallest social
  benefit

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisDrug Felons in Hawaii

• Net Incarceration Cost Calculation

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisDrug Felons in Hawaii

• Social Benefit Calculation

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisDrug Felons in Hawaii

• Cost-benefit Comparison

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Drug Felons in HawaiiLessons Learned

• Conclusions
• Its worthwhile to scrutinize classes of
  prisoners
• Numbers and classes of prisoners are determined
  in large part by state policy
• The state has the ability to reduce the prison
  population through policy, legislation, and legal
  practice (e.g., prosecution, sentencing)

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Drug Felons in HawaiiLessons Learned

• Conclusions
• Savings from prisoner reductions should be
  invested in programs that delay or forestall
  incarceration, such as job training, economic
  opportunity, and drug abuse education and
  treatment
• New prisons should be accompanied by a full set
  of services to stem the upward spiral caused by
  recidivism, especially with drug offenders

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White Paper FindingsPolicy Recommendations (1)

• The following recommendations were made in the
  original White Paper in October 2003
• 1. We lack accurate knowledge of parent-prisoners
  and children
• Keep demographic information on all children, on
  custody (legal and informal), on care giving
  arrangements, and on services needed or
  anticipated.
• Integrate family information into DPS central
  databank on prisoners on a regular basis.
• 2. Incarcerated parents risk losing a role in
  their childrens lives
• Require consultation with the parent in child
  welfare case planning
• Inmate-parents should have court-appointed
  counsel in child welfare cases
• Grant exceptions from the 15-month rule of the
  ASFA under "best interest of the child" exception
  

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FindingsPolicy Recommendations (2)

• 3. Placement on the mainland, based on economic
  considerations, forecloses the possibility of
  visits
• DPS should factor in the ability to maintain
  parent-child contact when making prison
  placements
• Parent inmates should be placed on the basis of
  the "best interest of the family
• 4. Post-release residence with extended family or
  relatives burdens relationships with extended
  family, complicates reunification with children
  
• Assist parent-prisoners in arranging their own
  housing prior to release, including day furloughs
  for this purpose

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FindingsPolicy Recommendations (3)

• 5. Research on the effect of a parents
  incarceration focuses on mothers and relies
  exclusively on caregiver reports
• Sponsor research based on direct contact with
  children that examines the impact of their
  parent's incarceration
• Part of the research should focus on the
  relationship of incarcerated fathers with their
  children
• 6. Substance abuse treatment services are grossly
  inadequate both in prison and in the community
• Provide appropriate substance abuse treatment on
  demand both in the community and in prison

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FindingsPolicy Recommendations (4)

• 7. Non-custodial parents are unable to pay child
  support while in prison
• Child support orders for non-custodial parents
  should be set at zero at the time of sentencing
• 8. Childrens visits to their parents are
  encumbered by physical environments and policies
  that discourage the development of their
  relationship with the parent
• Create a friendly visiting environment for
  families and children and encourage contact

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FindingsPolicy Recommendations (5)

• 9. Grandparents relatives seldom have adequate
  resources to fulfill the role they play in the
  lives of COIP
• Initiate supports for grandparent and relative
  caregivers of children with parents in prison,
  including respite care, housing assistance,
  parenting support, material support
• 10. The net cost of incarceration of certain
  prisoners likely exceeds the corresponding social
  benefit
• Shift from incarceration to community supervision
  and support for certain classes of inmates who
  are now serving time

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisAcknowledgements

• Thanks to
• Ken Hashi, Department of Public Safety
• Amalia Bueno, Department of Public Safety
• Contact information
• Thomas E. Lengyel
• Alliance for Children and Families
• 11700 W. Lake Park Drive
• Milwaukee, WI 53224
• [phone], x. 3637
• tlengyel_at_Alliance1.org