Who cares about children of the incarcerated?

The Final Call
By: Ashahed M. Muhammad
Published: January 26, 2011
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CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - Renee Y. Lee, recovery home director for The Women's Treatment Center, says people should be less judgmental and more circumspect in viewing the complex challenges associated with dealing with America's ever-growing prison population.

“What appears is not always what it is,” said Ms. Lee. “The causation for why a person commits a crime—although we won't exonerate them and let them off the hook completely—some of the time, it is related to an addiction and that is a factor. We as a society are responsible for one another.”

Related Publication

JS Publication January 12, 2011

Children on the Outside: Voicing the Pain and Human Costs of Parental Incarceration

Through expert analysis and first-hand testimony from children, parents and care-givers, Children on the Outside: Voicing the Pain and Human Costs of Parental Incarceration uncovers the devastating impact of parental incarceration on youth and the broader community and points to smart approaches to reduce prison populations and assist children. This new Justice Strategies report provides first-hand accounts of the harm experienced by some of the 1.7 million minor children with a parent in prison, a population that has grown with the explosion of the U.S. prison population.

When they do time we also do time. Just because we’re not in there doesn’t mean we don’t do time. Because you’re not with us, we also do time[.]

Araya, a teen girl with an incarcerated father. Read more »