Beyond Children of Incarcerated Parents

1
Beyond Children of Incarcerated Parents

• Families with Co-occurring Criminal Justice and
  Child Welfare Involvement
• Susan D. Phillips, PhD
• Alan J. Dettlaff, PhD
• Jane Addams College of Social Work

2
Mass Incarceration Policies

• More police more arrests
• More crimes with prison sentences
• Sentencing guidelines
• Truth in sentencing
• Three strikes legislation

3
Incarcerated population per 100,000
Source BJS http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/ta
bles/incrttab.htm
4
Federal prison population by offense type,
1980-2004
Drug Offenses
All Other Offenses

Source Source Book of Criminal Justice
Statistics 2003, (Table 6.57) http//www.albany.ed
u/sourcebook/pdf/t657.pdf
5
State prison population by offense type, 1980 -
2003
Source Bureau of Justice Statistics
http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ bjs/glance/corrtyp.htm
6
Adults under correctional supervision by race,
(percent adults in population group)1986-1997
Source Bureau of Justice Statistics Correctional
Surveys (The National Probation Data Survey,
National Prisoner Statistics, Survey of Jails,
Census of Jail Inmates, and The National Parole
Data Survey) as presented in Correctional
Populations in the United States, 1997, and
Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear, 2005.
7
Rate (per 100,000 resident population in each
group) of sentenced State and Federal prisoners
Male
Female
Source Source Book of Criminal Justice
Statistics 2003, (Table 6.8) http//www.albany.ed
u/ sourcebook/pdf/t6.8.pdf
8
Parents in Prison

• About half of the people in prison are parents
• Characteristics similar to parents who become
  involved with CPS
• Addictions 67
• Mental health problems 56
• Inadequate education 29
• Histories of maltreatment 20

Glaze, L. E., Maruschak, L. M. (2008). Parents
in prison and their minor children (NCJ 222984).
Washington, DC Bureau of Justice Statistics.
9
Children of Incarcerated Mothers and Fathers are
NOT Distinct Groups
Mother only was arrested
Mother and father and other parent figures were
arrested
24
8
68
Mother and father were arrested
Source Phillips, Erkanli, Costello Angold (in
press) Differences among children whose mothers
have been in contact with the criminal justice
system.
10
Greater proportion of children with mothers in
prison are living with relatives or are in foster
care
11
But, there are a greater NUMBER of fathers in
prison with children living with relatives or in
foster care.
12
Policy Question

• Do mass incarceration policies have a spill-over
  effect on the child welfare system?
• Assistance finding placements at arrest
• Non-relative foster care because of jail or
  prison sentence
• Disruptions in placements because of lack of
  support for relative caregivers
• TPR because of conflicts between average prison
  sentences and ASFA

13
Child Welfare League of America

• National Institute on Children of Incarcerated
  Parents
• Child Welfare (Seymour Hairston, 1998)
• Mothers in jail and prison may be constrained in
  their ability to meet requirements set out in
  reunification plans
• Mothers may not be able to participate in legal
  proceedings
• Workers response may be inadequate
• Needs of kinship caregivers
• Fathers are overlooked

14
Unanswered Questions

• What is the extent of overlap between the
  systems?
• Are the needs of children of arrested/incarcerated
  parents any different than those of other
  children CPS encounters?
• What happens to children at different points as
  their parents progress through the criminal
  justice system?

15
Question 1

• What is the overlap between the systems?

16
Bureau of Justice Statistics

• Parents in Prison with Children in Foster Care
• Parent No. ()
• Fathers 11,704 ( 2)
• Mothers 5,621 (11)

17
NSCAW

• 1 in 8 children who are subjects of reports of
  maltreatment have a recently arrested parent
• Same in urban and rural areas
• 43 of children with recently arrested parents
  are African American. In comparison, only 28 of
  allegations of maltreatment involve African
  Americans

Phillips, S. D., Burns, B. J., Wagner, H. R.,
Barth, R. P. (2004). Parental arrest and children
in child welfare services agencies. American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2, 174-186.
18
Question 2

• Are the needs of children of arrested/incarcerated
  parents any different than those of other
  children CPS encounters?

19
NSCAW Type of Alleged Maltreatment

• Parent Recently Arrested
• Yes No
• Failure to supervise 50 38
• Failure to provide 35 25
• Physical abuse 27 37
• Sexual abuse 9 13ns
• Abandonment 5 2ns

Phillips, S. D., Burns, B. J., Wagner, H. R.,
Barth, R. P. (2004). Parental arrest and children
in child welfare services agencies. American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2, 174-186.
20
NSCAW Family Problems

• Parent Recently Arrested
• Yes No
• Trouble meeting basic needs 45 21
• Substance abuse 42 8
• Mental illness 27 14
• Domestic violence 26 11
• TOTAL risk factors 2.5 1.4

Phillips, S. D., Burns, B. J., Wagner, H. R.,
Barth, R. P. (2004). Parental arrest and children
in child welfare services agencies. American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2, 174-186.
21
NSCAW Placement

• Parent Recently Arrested
• Yes No
• In-home 75 91
• Out-of-home
• Relative 14 3
• Foster home 9 4
• RTC/grp home 1 1
• Other lt1 lt1

Phillips, S. D., Burns, B. J., Wagner, H. R.,
Barth, R. P. (2004). Parental arrest and children
in child welfare services agencies. American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2, 174-186.
22
Is the recent arrest of a parent the reason
children are in an out-of-home placements?

• Significant risk factors OR 1
• Recent parental arrest 1.67t
• CBCL in clinical range 1.55
• No. parent risk factors 1.63
• t.06
• 1 Odds of children being in any out-of-home
  placement controlling for child race, age,
  gender, and maltreatment

Phillips, S. D., Burns, B. J., Wagner, H. R.,
Barth, R. P. (2004). Parental arrest and children
in child welfare services agencies. American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2, 174-186.
23
Is parental arrest driving children into
non-relative foster care?

• Significant risk factors OR1
• Recent parental arrest ns
• CBCL in clinical range 2.42
• No. parent risk factors 1.68
• 1 Odds of children being in foster care versus
  living with family member controlling for child
  race, age, gender, and maltreatment

24
Differences in Parental Arrest

• Children in-home only
• Primary caregiver ever arrested 30
• Most serious outcome of arrest
• Prison 1
• Probation 10
• Other (fines, etc) 19
• Arrest histories vary markedly
• Age at first arrest lt18 to 46
• Total arrests 1 to 10
• Duration of criminal career (yrs) lt1 to 26
• Time since last arrest lt1 to 30

Phillips, S. D. Dettlaff, A. J. (2009). More
than parents in prison The broader overlap
between the criminal justice and child welfare
system. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 3, 3-22.
25
Do differences in arrest histories matter?
Ex-offenders Repeat Offenders Other Percent
of mothers 3.5 3.5
20 Number of arrests 1
3 1 to 2 Age at first arrest lt25
lt25 gt25 Last arrest gt 5 yrs ago
last 2 years 1 to 5 Length of criminal career
1 yr 5 years 1 yr Mothers
age 20 to 40 30 to 50
20 to 30
26
Type of Maltreatment
27
Family Problems
28
QUESTION 3

• What are childrens needs at different points as
  their parents pass through the criminal justice
  system?

29
Probation

• More common than incarceration
• Often a precursor to incarceration
• Greater emphasis on rehabilitation

30
Probation
Source Bureau of Justice Statistics
http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ bjs/glance/corrtyp.htm
31
Probation
32
Mother is member of household
Based on primary caregivers who reported an
arrest resulting in probation in year prior to
start of case investigation
33
PCGs who were sentenced to probation in the 12
months prior to start of investigation
97 mothers
Peak in incarceration
Change in cg because of incarceration
Arrest of PCG
34
Risk Exposure
35
Summary

• Overlap
• 1 in 8 children who are subjects of reports of
  maltreatment have a recently arrested parent
• About 1 in 3 children in in-home settings have an
  ever-arrested parent
• 1 in 100 formerly incarcerated parent
• 1 in 10 probationers
• 1 in 5 other

36

• Parental arrest/incarceration and CW involvement
  are not static events
• Rather than thinking about the overlap at a given
  point in time, we should think about the
  co-occurring involvement over time.
• There is a subset of families who move back and
  forth between the two systems.

37

• Differences
• Children whose parents are involved in the
  criminal justice system are more likely to be
  victims of alleged neglect
• Disproportionately African American
• Collectively, live in families with a greater
  number of problems, particularly if parent has
  extended criminal history
• .

38

• More likely to be in out-of-home care.
• Recent arrest may contribute to children living
  with someone other than their parent
• But, it is childrens mental health problems and
  the number of problems their families have that
  lead to children being separated from their
  families.

39
Central Tendencies versus Individual Realities

• There are meaningful differences among parents
  who are involved with criminal authorities
• There are meaningful differences among children
  whose parents are involved in the criminal
  justice system
• Which parents? Which children? And, why are we
  waiting for parents to go to prison?

40
Limitations of Current Body of Research

• Asking the wrong question
• Not measuring relevant variables
• Narrow focus on incarceration
• Other forms of criminal justice involvement
  (e.g., arrest, probation, parole) have not been
  considered
• Narrow focus on mothers who have been
  incarcerated
• Children have other family members who may have
  criminal justice involvement that can affect
  their involvement in the child welfare system

41
(No Transcript)
42
The Range of Unintended Consequences Criminal
Justice Involvement has among Families in the
Child Welfare System
43
Review of TX Case Records

• Pilot study to explore the ways in which the
  criminal justice system involvement of parents
  and other members of childrens families affect
  decision-making
• Cases records were randomly selected from among
  cases of alleged child maltreatment that that
  were investigated between May 2006 and April 2007
  and which resulted in CPS removing children from
  their homes (N452)
• A random sample of 113 cases was selected by
  beginning with the first case and selecting every
  4th case thereafter
• Sampled and non-sampled cases were the same with
  respect to the age, race, and gender of the
  children involved, their parents ages, household
  incomes, and types of confirmed maltreatment

44
Categories of Criminal Justice Involvement in
Child Welfare Cases

• Interconnections between law enforcement and CPS
  involvement
• Consideration of parents criminal histories in
  decisions to remove children from their care
• Consideration of family members (including
  non-resident fathers) criminal convictions in
  making placement decisions
• CPS becomes involved with children while their
  parents are incarcerated

45
Interconnections Between Law Enforcement and CPS
Involvement

• Law enforcement involvement is initiated by CPS
• Arrests for acts of child maltreatment
• Law enforcement learns about other crimes in the
  course of the maltreatment investigation
• Arrests for outstanding warrants
• CPS involvement is initiated by law enforcement
• CPS is contacted when parents are arrested and no
  one is immediately available to care for children
• CPS is contacted because of concerns about the
  well-being of children

46
Consideration of Parents Criminal Histories in
Decisions to Remove Children

• Criminal histories are considered an indicator of
  problems that could pose a current threat to
  childrens safety
• Criminal histories, in and of themselves, are
  regarded as a threat to childrens current safety

47
Consideration of Family Members Criminal
Convictions in Placement Decisions

• Relatives criminal histories impede placement
• Some crimes are indicative of problems that would
  impede placement even if the relative had not
  been arrested
• In some cases, exceptions are made

48
CPS Becomes Involved with Children While Their
Parents Are Incarcerated

• Children born while their mothers are
  incarcerated
• CPS is contacted because of caregivers substance
  abuse or other maltreatment
• Caregivers are unable or unwilling to continue
  caring for children

49
Implications

• Some concerns of advocates are validated
• On occasion, parental arrest leads to children
  becoming involved with child welfare
• Placements are disrupted because of inadequate
  support for kinship caregivers
• However, the consequences of criminal justice
  involvement for families in the child welfare
  system are less direct, further reaching, and
  more enduring than advocates have suggested

50
Future Directions

• Worker Response
• Efforts to place children with relatives when
  parents are arrested
• Role of parents and relatives arrest histories
  in removal and placement decisions
• Family reunification efforts when parents are
  incarcerated
• Arrest history as indicator of complex cases

51

• Policy
• What are the official policies for
• responding when parents are arrested?
• reunification services when parents are
  incarcerated?
• supports for relative caregivers?
• What data can we gather to develop rational
  policies?
• i.e., is there any evidence that placing children
  with parents with arrest histories has adverse
  consequences

52

• Acts of Omission versus Acts of Commission
• How can criminal justice system prevent demand
  for child welfare services?
• i.e., substance abuse treatment for parents on
  probation, substance abuse treatment for parents
  in prison

53

• Practice improvement
• Clearinghouse to catalog information from
  research and practice
• Clearinghouse to catalog innovations in practice
  and policy
• Support for collaborative learning