Youth Ideas for Change by Profession

• Build trust with caregivers so we stop worrying about upsetting them if we talk to other adults
• Work with caregivers to encourage truth telling about the incarceration
• Provide training and on-going supervision that includes:
  • Accurate statistics about children and families of the incarcerated
  • Strategies for respecting family relationships and circumstances
  • Understanding self-awareness and bias
  • Skills for building trust
  • Strategies for helping children and their parents and caregivers communicate about difficult topics
• Design programs that train older children of incarcerated parents to be mentors for younger children of incarcerated parents
• Offer transportation options and coordination to help youth get to visit their incarcerated parent
• Offer family counseling and guidance to youth and their incarcerated parents (this is especially important given the limited opportunity and time for calls and visits)
• Provide information and help for coping with the unpredictable nature of managing relationships with caregivers and following correctional policy as we attempt to connect and communicate with our incarcerated parent
• Corrections staff should receive training that emphasizes:
  • That visits are supposed to be a positive experience for families
  • That respectful treatment and interactions with the family and the incarcerated parent are what is expected by children of incarcerated parents
• Use communication methods like posters and post them everywhere — schools, public libraries, health clinics
• Advertise on websites frequented by youth (such as Pandora and Facebook)
• Use celebrity spokespeople (e.g. musicians and sports figures) who can contribute to reducing stigma and shame
• Have a social media campaign
• Use public services announcements

Additionally, we have identified 11 strategies that apply across all professions:

• Get to know us: we are not statistics; we are youth who come from different backgrounds and family circumstances
• See us for who and what we are
• Know yourself: be aware of the assumptions and biases that you may have about us
• Let us know we can trust you. Be reliable and predictable. Listen without judgment
• Respect our right to confidentiality
• Help us to help each other by providing us with opportunities to gather together
• Help us channel our emotions into making a positive change through advocacy
• Honor our inner strength: don’t feel sorry for us
• Involve youth of incarcerated parents and their families in decisions about programs, policies and practices
• Agencies should understand the complexities of collaboration with and between other agencies (such as schools and corrections) because of confidentiality requirements
• Create lists of available resources and make them accessible

 
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