How Can We Help the Children of Incarcerated Parents?

EVENT RECAP

March 3, 2020

While it’s widely understood that harsh antidrug policies have led to growing incarceration rates around the world, some of the most powerless victims of these policies are often ignored: the families of men and women in prison, especially their children.

A new report by Church World Service, Childhood that Matters (Niñez que Cuenta), analyzes the impact of parental incarceration on children—such as exposure to violence, feelings of loss and stigma, increasing impoverishment, and difficulty maintaining parent-child relationships. Additionally, the report also offers a series of recommendations drawn from on interviews with children throughout Latin America and the Caribbean who have relatives in prison for nonviolent drug offenses.

In October 2019, three experts—Corina Giacomello, the report’s lead researcher; Luciano Cadoni, a program officer for Church World Service; and Facundo Sessa, a youth organizer in Uruguay whose testimony informed the report—visited Open Society’s New York City office to discuss their findings and proposals.

Listen to the audio of the event to learn more.

Topics

Drug Policy Reform

Keep Families Together

We Must Not Forget the Children of the Incarcerated

Women and children standing in lines outside a prison fence.

As a new report shows, draconian anti-drug policies in Latin America don’t just harm people who use or sell substances; they harm the children and families of the incarcerated, too. Thankfully, there’s a better way.

June 19, 2019 | Estefanny Sessa

Rural Rights

Broken Promises in Colombia's Coca Fields

A program to help coca growers find new legal ways to make a living has largely failed to deliver. Disillusioned farmers now need the government to hold up its end of the bargain.

October 23, 2019 | Sophia Sadinsky & Ramón Campos Iriarte

REMEMBERING MARIELLE

Q&A: Marielle Franco’s Enduring Legacy

Anielle Franco and others on a float in a parade

Marielle Franco’s sister, Anielle, remembers her sister, her work for a better Brazil, and her legacy of fighting for marginalized women and girls.

July 26, 2019

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