Incarceration does not just involve the prisoner. Grandparents and other relatives carry the greater burden of supporting the children with or without the help from public systems. This is not a problem involving a few families. In the state of Illinois alone there are currently 90,000 children of incarcerated parents.

The emotional toll on everyone connected to a convicted prisoner is huge. Parents, grandparents, extended families, friends, church families and especially children all experience solemn concerns.

National figures show that 76% of state prisoners are convicted of non-violent crimes. Some states have taken steps to assist families of prisoners particularly for the sake of the children of incarcerated parents

Because of recent awareness of parental incarceration through the Community Renewal Society (CRC), the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) offered to address the issues in a number of ways:

• Maintain no limit on the number of children who can visit a parent at one time
• Ensure that new lockdown procedures accommodate the needs of children who travel long distances to see their parents
• Expand video visitation to all IDOC facilities and allow CRS to review the proposals for companies providing these services to ensure that they meet the needs of families
• Transform visitation spaces into family friendly environments
• Move toward contact visits so children can touch and hug their parents
• Create family programming prior to parental re-entry
• Meet quarterly with CRS and other family advocates to continue to improve services for families.

If we are talking about tens of thousands of children that we want to keep out of the prison system as convicted prisoners, these and other steps can go a long way toward prevention.

For more information on Community Renewal Society and other resources for families supporting children of incarcerated parents check the following:

• Family and Corrections Network: www.fcnetwork.org
• California provides an extensive resource list at: http://www.f2f.ca.gov/res-YouthParents.htm
• The Social Security Administration provides a lot of answers and resources regarding children of incarcerated parents: www.ssa.gov, search “children of prisoners” or you can call Social Security. Check their following statement:

In addition to using our website, you can call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213. We treat all calls confidentially. We can answer specific questions from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. We can provide information by automated phone service 24 hours a day. (You can use our automated response system to tell us a new address or request a replacement Medicare card.) If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you may call our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.

We also want to make sure you receive accurate and courteous service. That is why we have a second Social Security representative monitor some telephone calls.

Kinship care of children has many causes of separation from parents including military deployment, long term illness or death of parents, and incarceration. As we grow a healthy society, we must work together in many ways to support the kinship caregivers.

Contact Helene LaBrecque Ellis via email at hellis7@msn.com or by phone at 517-256-3277. For informtion on how to purchase her book, "A Kinship Guide to Rescuing Children For Grandparents and Other Relatives As Parents," email info@chicagoroadpublishing.com.