Children of jailed parents face problems
Do you know any children who have had an incarcerated parent? Statistically speaking, if you know 20 kids, you might. The health effects of parental incarceration on children has been called a “hidden epidemic” by experts in the field.
Nationally, one in every 14 youth in the United States will experience having an incarcerated parent at some point during their childhood, according to a report of the National Survey on Children’s Health. For Black youth, it’s one in 9; for white youth, one in 17. Locally, Ohio has the 4th-highest population of children with incarcerated parents in the nation.
Parental incarceration is one of the adverse childhood experiences documented to have a lifelong impact on health. While in some cases, such as when a parent is abusive or potentially dangerous to the child, parental incarceration could have a positive effect, most research finds negative outcomes associated with a parent’s incarceration.
Many of the consequences of parental incarceration that a child may experience fall into the category of “social drivers of health.” Social drivers of health include income, education, employment and systemic bias.
A child whose parent is incarcerated may enter the foster system or need to go live with a relative. The family might lose income. That loss of income could lead to homelessness, or housing and food insecurity. The child might experience trauma through witnessing the arrest of a parent from the home. And children of incarcerated parents almost uniformly report feeling stress, feeling alone and feeling stigmatized.
In a recent presentation, Samantha Boch, PH.D., reported that in a chart review of one institution, 2% of children had a provider documented correctional-related keyword such as prison, jail, parole or probation in their medical record. Those children made up 50% of the stress-related disorders, trauma-related disorders, and substance use disorder-related diagnoses in the study period. Furthermore, research shows that a higher risk for poor health outcomes follows these children throughout their life.
The research is clear: We have a problem. But what’s the answer?
Existing research on social drivers of health points us in the right direction. We know that reducing shame and stigma and increasing access to resources and support can dramatically improve outcomes of mental health conditions, stress-related disorders and substance use disorders.
In the case of children with incarcerated parents, this could be achieved by placing posters with information about resources in school clinics or pediatric offices. This could mean increasing screening for ACES during well-visits and linking families with social workers when appropriate.
It could be a public health campaign to encourage community support for families instead of community ostracization. And it could mean increasing resources for jail and prison diversion programs that are known to be effective.
One of the things that I love about pediatric research is that it’s not just about petri dishes and genomics and developing new therapies. Those things are amazing and life-changing. But research is just as powerful when it teaches us about humanity.
For a child with an incarcerated parent, could a difference in health outcomes be rooted in a professional or other community individual who is willing to change the conversation? By bringing this “hidden epidemic” into the light, we take the first steps to changing the trajectory of health for these children.
Abbie Roth is managing editor of Pediatrics Nationwide and Science Communication at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.