About 1.7 million youth in the U.S. have at least one parent in prison. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the number of parents held in prisons has risen 79 percent from 1991-2007. Youth with incarcerated parents fare worse than other youth on a range of educational and physical and mental health outcomes. Having an incarcerated parent can increase the likelihood that a young person becomes involved in antisocial and delinquent behavior. Given the level of family disruption these young people experience, mentoring is a powerful and positive intervention that can provide caring, trusting adults to those whose parents are absent.
Released at the end of January, Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Synthesis of Research and a September 2013 Listening Session synthesizes research and the voices and opinions of mentoring experts, practitioners, parents and youth shared at a listening session.
To read the full report, please click HERE.
