Child Welfare Services to Children & Families of Prisoners
The disruption of family relationships when parents are incarcerated can have a serious impact on children and youth, with consequences sometimes including temporary or permanent removal from the home. Although the number of children and youth placed in foster care as a result of their parent’s incarceration is not clearly identified through current data collection systems, estimates suggest that tens of thousands of young people in foster care may have incarcerated parents.1 Further, as a result of incarceration, some parents face termination of parental rights because their children have been in the foster care system beyond the time allowed by law.2
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