Left Behind – What Happens to Kids of Incarcerated Parents?

by Jessica Salgado

Imagine being 13 and having your mother taken away by police in front of you, without knowing why, then having to spend the next two years living with a neighbor. That’s what happened to Long Beach resident Maritza Galvez.

“It was scary,” remembered Galvez, who is now 22. “I didn’t know where they were taking her… I didn’t know what to do.”

Galvez’ story is not unique. An estimated 2.7 million U.S. children, or one in 28, had one or both parents in state or federal prison in 2009, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. In Los Angeles County, the figure is around 317,000.

The number of young people with incarcerated parents is so high that even Sesame Street now features a character, Alex, whose father is in jail. A recently published children’s picture book also tells the story of a young girl visiting her incarcerated father.

“Being separated from your parent behind a glass window is heartbreaking,” said Galvez, whose mother has been incarcerated for almost a decade. “It’s a physical reminder that they can’t be with you. Not being able to give her a kiss or hug broke all of us down.”

Stephanie Loftin is a family law attorney with Long Beach Law. She says parents will in fact sometimes discourage visits, preferring letter exchanges instead because they do not want to be seen by their kids in jail. Phone calls to home, meanwhile, must be made collect at exorbitant rates.

The emotional trauma inflicted on children with incarcerated parents often leads to post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and other mental health issues, according to Ann Adalist-Estrin, director of the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated at Rutgers University-Camden.

“[They feel] unclear and lost,” said Adalist-Estrin. “The parents aren’t dead, but they are not around.”

Adalist-Estrin adds that often these youth do not know how to express what they are going through, and may also feel stigmatized by peers because of their situation.

“When kids feel ashamed, they lie,” said Adalist-Estrin. “A lot of the time, they don’t tell the truth of where their parent went.”

In 2014 the U.S. Department of Justice and the International Association of Chiefs of Police released a document titled “Safeguarding the Children of Arrested Parents,” part of a larger initiative launched by the White House.

In it, the agencies acknowledged the “negative impact on a child’s immediate and long-term emotional, mental, social, and physical health” stemming from the arrest of one or both parents.

The document offers guidelines to reduce this trauma when arrests are made, as well as rules for how law enforcement must interact with minors, document their presence and ensure they are placed with an appropriate caregiver.

But author and criminal justice reform advocate Nell Bernstein, who is cited in the paper, says that of the departments that actually have a written policy in place, most define minor loosely as “under 18.” That leaves older, teenage youth particularly vulnerable to being disregarded by arresting officers.

“The rest offer definitions that range from 16 and under to 10 and under,” the authors note. “Children who would not be permitted to sign a lease, get a job or enroll themselves in school because of their age are, as a matter of explicit policy, deemed old enough to be left behind in empty apartments.”

For Galvez, the experience of seeing her mother taken away had a profound impact on her adult life and career. Galvez now works as a youth organizer with the Youth Justice Coalition, a prisoner advocacy group based in Inglewood.

YJC provides free group and individual counseling to children of incarcerated parents, as well as consultations with others who have had similar experiences. “This gives them a sense of belonging,” said YJC organizer Kim McGill.

The group also offers legal clinics and welcome home dinners “to try to reintegrate families,” providing help with transportation, housing, and employment.

All of the services are free with year-round open enrollment through YJC’s FREE L.A. high school. “If you walk in the door, you can be a member and get resources,” McGill said.

Still, given the number of kids with incarcerated parents, advocates say more needs to done to ensure they are not forgotten.

“We need more support for families who have incarcerated loved ones,” said Galvez. “All in all, I think we need to stop putting so much money into incarceration and start investing in our communities.”

Children and families with incarcerated loved ones can contact Youth Justice Coalition at (323) 235-4243 for support and more information.