Coastal
Post Online
December,
2003
Prisoner Parents And Their Orphaned Children
By Jim McKinnon, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The night before visiting day, Anna Thomas
said, she and her grandchildren all are a bundle of nerves, unable to sleep
because of the anticipation of visiting her sons -- the children's uncle and
father -- both inmates in prisons in Pennsylvania.
"The night
before, we're up all night long. You're excited and happy because you're going.
Then you get on the bus and you're knocked out," Thomas said this
week.
For Thomas, it is of utmost importance for her sons, Alonzo
Harris and William Thomas, to see their relatives while they are in jail.
Otherwise, she said, her boys may not know them-and vice versa-if and when they
get out of prison.
In recent years, government and private
agencies also have pointed to the need to help maintain family connections for
the millions of children in the country whose parents are incarcerated.
About 10 percent of all minor children in the United States-about 7.3
million youths-have at least one parent who is incarcerated or is under court
supervision such as on probation or parole, according to a policy brief
released last week by the Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center in
Washington, DC.
Those children face a variety of social and
developmental problems that also can have an impact on society through the need
for social services.
The report echoes findings in a study done
by the US Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections Information
Center in Longmont, Colo.
"The immediate effects can include
feelings of shame, social stigma, loss of financial support, weakened ties to
the parent, changes in family composition, poor school performance, increased
delinquency, and increased risk of abuse or neglect," said the Urban
Institute brief, titled, "Families Left Behind: The Hidden Costs of
Incarceration and Re-entry."
An added complication for families is that prisoners are housed in
facilities that are an average distance of more than 100 miles from their
families. Getting to see each other becomes a major
obstacle for those
children who are permitted, or desire, to visit their jailed parents.
About 1,500 people a year-financially strapped relatives in the
Pittsburgh region-have found a way around the logistical obstacle, said Mary
McCue, a program coordinator for Families Outside, a program of the Family
Service Center in East Liberty.
Affordable bus transportation for these
families to visit their relatives is the most popular service provided by
Families Outside, McCue said.
Round-trip fare to any institution within
40 miles of Pittsburgh costs $10 a seat. Any farther travel to jails in the
tri-state region costs $20 round-trip, McCue said.
"People are
put away so far from their families," McCue said. "You have people
who may be put away for only a couple of years and they will be back in the
family. But, to put them so far away, there's no way to maintain a family
relationship," without helping those who can't afford to make their own
way for visits, she said.
The Urban Institute reported that children,
feeling the void of an imprisoned parent or family member, often succumb to
developmental problems.
The study reported that:
¥ By age 2, children who have been left
behind as infants become completely dependent on substitute caregivers and
rarely ever bond with their parent.
¥ By age 6, that child
may become more independent, but displays socio-emotional impairment, traumatic
stress reactions and "survivor guilt."
¥ Between ages 7
and 10, a child shows less ability to overcome future emotional trauma.
¥ An 11-to 14-year-old child may become increasingly aggressive and
react inappropriately to limits on behavior.
¥ Minors between ages
15 and 18 can be confused by the emotional crisis in which they find
themselves. Too often, the study said, this condition leads that child to crime
and incarceration.
The Urban Institute cited other studies
that show good results when prisoners who have maintained contact with
relatives while incarcerated return to their families. Inmates who got regular
visits usually got involved in programs in prison that provided treatment for
drug abuse. After these prisoners were released, the incidence of physical
abuse toward loved ones was minimized, the study said.
Thomas said that her family was devastated 15 years ago when her son,
Alonzo Harris, 35, was convicted and sentenced to life in a state prison in
Erie County. Following Alonzo's conviction for murder, his girlfriend gave
birth to a daughter that Alonzo has yet to meet.
In subsequent
years, his younger brother, William Thomas, 25, became increasingly unruly. The
boys were tight. Alonzo is the second oldest of Anna's five children. William
is the youngest.
Anna Thomas said she believes that William,
who had worshipped his older brother, was lost to other rowdy youths in their
Hill District neighborhood in the absence of Alonzo. None of her other children, an older son and two daughters, has
ever been in trouble with the law.
So, on visiting day,
which comes about twice a month for Thomas, she gathers as many of her
grandchildren as are available, hosts a sleepover, and takes them with her on
the bus to visit her sons.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
has a number of programs designed to keep incarcerated parents connected with
their children. Inmates are encouraged to write letters to those children whose
caregivers on the outside refuse to allow the youngsters to visit. Some inmates
are permitted to record themselves, on audio or video, reading a book, with the
tape then being delivered to their children.
The preferred deterrent
to the cycle of crime and incarceration, however, is face-to-face meeting,
McCue said. She said that too few
families know about the bus service provided by Families Outside.
"It's really rewarding and beneficial to see what comes out of a
bus ride, which is something small," McCue said. "From [the
families'] point of view, we're keeping the family together which is really
worth while."
Families Outside has other programs for
families and their imprisoned relatives, including help with readjusting to
outside life after the prisoner is released.
For more information, call 412-661-1670.
Jim McKinnon
can be reached at jmckinnon@post-gazette.com