Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Filter by Agency
- Bureau of Justice Assistance (3)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (1)
- National Institute of Justice (1)
- Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (1)
- Office of Justice Programs (7)
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (5)
- Office of Safe and Healthy Students (2)
- Office of Victims of Crime (6)
Filter by Department
- (-) Department of Agriculture (2)
- (-) Department of Education (10)
- Department of Health and Human Services (94)
- Department of Homeland Security (8)
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (2)
- (-) Department of Justice (26)
- (-) Department of Labor (1)
- Department of State (2)
- Multiple Federal Partners (1)
- Social Security Administration (1)
Filter by Topic
- Afterschool (33)
- Bullying (16)
- (-) Children of Incarcerated Parents (11)
- Child Welfare (13)
- Civic Engagement (6)
- Collaboration (6)
- Community Development (24)
- Disabilities (53)
- Education (332)
- Employment & Training (72)
- Gang Prevention (26)
- Health and Nutrition (38)
- Housing (4)
- Juvenile Justice (182)
- (-) LGBTQ (5)
- Mental Health (21)
- Mentoring (14)
- Native Youth (1)
- Parenting (13)
- Positive Youth Development (21)
- Program Development (11)
- Reconnecting Youth (4)
- Runaway and Homeless Youth (9)
- Safety (24)
- School Climate (22)
- Service Learning (1)
- Substance Use/Misuse (21)
- Teen Dating Violence (19)
- Teen Driver Safety (3)
- (-) Teen Pregnancy (1)
- Teen Pregnancy Prevention (2)
- (-) Trafficking of Youth (19)
- Transition Age Youth (24)
- Violence Prevention & Victimization (92)
- Youth Preparedness (11)
Children in Foster Care with Parents in Federal Prison: A Toolkit for Child Welfare Agencies, Federal Prisons, and Residential Reentry Centers
Roughly 10% of incarcerated mothers in state prison have a child in a foster home or other state care. Some estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 8 children who are subjects of reports of maltreatment and investigated by child welfare agencies have parents who were recently arrested. Though there is clearly overlap between the prison system and the child welfare system, it is often difficult for prison officials to know how to help incarcerated parents stay in touch with their children in foster care and work towards reunification. Similarly, it is difficult for child welfare agencies to know how to engage parents in prison. The purpose of this toolkit is to help facilitate communication and cooperation between child welfare agencies and federal prisons so that parents can stay engaged in their children's lives.
Children of Incarcerated Parents – Fact Sheet
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2007, an estimated 1.7 million children under the age of 18 had a parent in prison, an increase of almost 80 percent since 1991. The negative consequences for children with an incarcerated parent can be substantial, including financial instability, changes in family structure, shame, and social stigma. However, research also shows that supporting healthy and positive relationships between these vulnerable children, who are the innocent bystanders of adult decisions, and their families has the potential to mitigate negative outcomes.
An interagency group, that includes the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Education, and Agriculture as well as the Social Security Administration, has partnered with stakeholders both inside and outside of government to identify opportunities to support these children and their caregivers. This fact sheet describes the efforts of the interagency group.
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons protects society by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prisons and community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure, and that provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens.
Video Visiting in Corrections: Benefits, Limitations, and Implementing Considerations
This guide from the National Institute of Corrections can help inform administrators working in correctional settings about the benefits and challenges of using “video visiting,” in which incarcerated individuals communicate with family members via video conferencing technology or virtual software programs. The guide includes three chapters that address: (1) reasons to consider video visiting; (2) implementation considerations; and (3) evaluation of a video visiting program.
National Institute of Corrections (NIC) - Children of Incarcerated Parents (CoIP) Project
Studies show that the arrest of a parent can be traumatic for children and their families and it is correlated with behavioral problems, poor outcomes in school, and the severance of relationships with the incarcerated parents, that often lasts a long time after the parent is released. The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) created the Children of Incarcerated Parents Project (CoIP) to assist stakeholders who are involved with affected families by providing a review of existing literature and promising practices and working with stakeholders to build frameworks to apply lessons learned in the field.
National Reentry Resource Center
Funded by the Second Chance Act of 2008, and launched by the Council of State Governments Justice Center in 2009, the National Reentry Resource Center provides education, training, and technical assistance to states, tribes, territories, local governments, service providers, non-profit organizations, and corrections institutions working on prisoner reentry.
Parental Incarceration and Child Wellbeing: An Annotated Bibliography
This annotated bibliography focuses on quantitative research on the consequences of paternal and maternal incarceration for children that (1) attempts to control for selection using standard statistical techniques, (2) uses broadly representative data, and (3) differentiates consequences of paternal incarceration from consequences of maternal incarceration. Although this bibliography focuses primarily on research in the United States, a small number of studies using data from European countries are also included (and many additional studies in that vein are also included in the further readings section so that interested readers will be able to read more in this area).
Parental Incarceration and Child Wellbeing: An Annotated Bibliography (PDF, 17 pages)
Promising Practices Toolkit: Working with Drug Endangered Children and Their Families
This toolkit, developed by the Department of Justice's Federal Interagency Task Force on Drug Endangered Children, aims to help professionals serving drug-endangered children by identifying promising practices in the field, as well as why these practice works and resources to assist in their implementation.
Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents: Trauma Prevention Policy
The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), in partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) created a policy, Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents. The policy, which reflects input from subject-matter experts and stakeholders, provides strategies for law enforcement to improve their procedures for interactions with children when a parent is arrested.
Video: Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents Training
This training video shows children telling their own stories about how they were affected by the arrest of a parent, and demonstrates the core principles from the Model Policy for Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents (PDF, 38 pages), illustrating actions law enforcement officers can take to reduce trauma.
Resource: Hidden Consequences: The Impact of Incarceration on Dependent Children
This article summarizes the range of risk factors facing children of incarcerated parents. It also cautions against universal policy solutions that seek to address these risk factors but do not take into account the child's unique needs, the child's relationship with the incarcerated parent, and alternative support systems. Correctional practitioners and other service providers can use this resource to better understand how their communication and collaboration can foster a safety net for children and facilitate successful re-entry for the incarcerated parent.
Key Policy Letters from the Education Secretary and Deputy Secretary
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a letter to public school districts about LGBT bullying. He specifically states that GSAs are protected under the 1984 Equal Access Act, which protects student-initiated groups.
Transgender Students Share School Experiences with ED Officials
ED invited a group of transgender students to speak about their school experiences at a roundtable discussion with Secretary Duncan and senior officials. Students described what makes them feel safe and supported in the learning environment, specifically providing recommendations related to proper bathroom and locker utilization, appropriate name and pronoun use, and the elimination of the school to prison pipeline.
Report: Surviving the Streets of New York: Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex
The Urban Institute released a report (PDF, 94 pages), supported by OJJDP, on involvement in the juvenile justice, criminal justice, and child welfare systems and youth engaging in survival sex who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ); young men who have sex with men (YMSM); and young women who have sex with woman (YWSW). The report offers practice and policy recommendations to repurpose law enforcement-based responses to youth engaged in survival sex and services to meet their needs without system involvement.
Resource: Guidance to Help Schools Ensure the Civil Rights of Transgender Students
This joint guidance (PDF, 9 pages) provides information to help educators ensure all students, including transgender students, can attend school in an environment free from discrimination based on sex. The guidance also addresses the treatment of students’ gender identity, response to harassment, students’ participation in sex-segregated activities, and students’ privacy.
Report: Recommendations of the LGBT Subcommittee: Advancing the Reform Process for LGBQ/GNCT Youth in the Juvenile Justice System
This report (PDF, 11 pages) summarizes the recommendations of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Subcommittee of the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice to OJJDP on strategies to advance juvenile justice reform for lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning/gender nonconforming, transgender (LGBQ/GNCT) youth. The recommendations are grouped into four categories:
- Policy and program development,
- Training and technical assistance,
- Data collection and research, and
- Federal LGBT juvenile justice coordination.
WIC Agencies Recognized for Supporting Breastfeeding Mothers
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recognized state and local agencies of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) that excel in offering education and support for breastfeeding mothers. USDA also presented outstanding breastfeeding programs with WIC Breastfeeding Performance Bonuses, awarded to agencies and organizations that have demonstrated successful breastfeeding promotion and support efforts, and the WIC Loving Support Awards of Excellence, which honored WIC agencies utilizing the USDA Loving Support Model for successful peer counseling programs.
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
Since its creation in 1987, the mission of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) has been to protect the welfare of America´s children and communities by enforcing federal criminal statutes relating to obscenity and the exploitation of children. The CEOS website includes information and resources on child pornography, child sexual abuse, extraterritorial sexual exploitation of children, child prostitution, and more.
Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States
This OJJDP-sponsored report, released by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, aims to strengthen prevention, identification, and response efforts by offering recommendations for the response to commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of minors.
Human Trafficking of Children in the United States: A Fact Sheet for Schools
The Office of Safe and Healthy Students developed a fact sheet to inform schools about human trafficking, how it can affect schools, potential signs, how to help, and additional resources.
Human Trafficking in America’s Schools
Human Trafficking in America’s Schools was developed to help school officials understand how human trafficking affects schools, recognize the indicators of possible human trafficking, and develop policies, protocols, and partnerships to address and prevent the exploitation of children. Available online and in PDF (PDF, 18 pages) format, the guide also offers links to resources and publications, trainings, and services for victims.
Human Trafficking 101 for School Administrators and Staff
This resource can help school professionals better understand the issue of human trafficking and who is at risk for victimization. Included are a list of “red flags” that administrators and staff reference when identifying potential victims and hotlines to call to make a report.
Office of Victims of Crime
The Office of Victims of Crime is committed to enhancing the nation’s capacity to assist crime victims and providing leadership in changing attitudes, policies, and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime.
Office of Legal Policy
The Office of Legal Policy coordinates the development of the Department’s anti-trafficking policies and is responsible for compiling the Attorney General’s Annual Report to Congress on U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Assessment of U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons. The Assistant Attorney General serves as the Department’s representative to the Senior Policy Operating Group, an executive-level policy implementation group created to address emerging interagency policy, grants, and planning issues.
Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking
The Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) is part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). The office was created in 1993 in response to a request from Congress to investigate and report on child labor around the world. As domestic and international concern about child labor grew, OCFT’s activities significantly expanded. Today, these activities include conducting research on international child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking; funding and overseeing cooperative agreements and contracts to organizations engaged in efforts to eliminate exploitive child labor around the world; and assisting in the development and implementation of U.S. government policy on international child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking issues.