LANSDOWNE, Va. /Christian News/ — It is estimated that 1.7 million children in the U.S have a father or mother behind prison bars. Even though these children have done nothing wrong, they are frequently plagued with shame, institutional stigma, poverty and family instability. As a result, these children often suffer poor school performance and behavioral and emotional problems. A report released Monday by the Council of State Governments Justice Center urges policymakers to act immediately to revise unreasonable corrections practices that harm what are arguably the most at-risk Americans – the children of prisoners.

Evidence shows that maintaining the child-parent relationship during a parent’s incarceration improves a child’s emotions and behaviors to help keep him or her out of prison. But that relationship becomes impossible when 60 percent of incarcerated parents are housed more than 100 miles away from their previous residence and 15-minute, interstate phone calls cost more than $1 per minute. Compared to the average 10-cents-per-minute cost of most interstate calls for the general public, prison phone rates not only prohibit children’s interaction with their incarcerated parent, but also price-gouge the poorest of the poor.

“The growth in the U.S. prison population over the last 20 years – giving our nation the highest incarceration rate in the world – affects an extraordinary number of innocent children and families,” said former prisoner Pat Nolan, a vice president for Prison Fellowship, the world’s largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families, and a former member of California’s General Assembly. “We must begin changing legislation and corrections policies in order to break the cycle of crime by protecting, encouraging and supporting children whose parents are in prison.”

The new report, Children of Incarcerated Parents: An Action Plan for Federal Policymakers – a practical guide for corrections officials and policymakers – recommends broad reforms to the criminal justice system to limit the negative affects of parental incarceration on children and allow them to become thriving, contributing members of society. Specifically, the report recommends policy changes to:

• Incarcerate parents no more than 100 miles from their children.
• Reduce excessive phone call rates – often more than $1 per minute for interstate calls – which make staying in touch with children unaffordable.
• Revise severe visitation policies that make it very difficult for children to visit their incarcerated parents.
• Examine The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) to determine its impact on the termination of incarcerated parents’ relationship with their children after 15 months in foster care.
• Ensure that needed healthcare is not withheld from blameless children of prisoners.

Prison Fellowship has a long-standing commitment to children of incarcerated parents. For 27 years, it has supported families of incarcerated parents through its Angel Tree program, a year round effort – including Christmas gifts, camping and mentoring opportunities – that links the children of prisoners with a local church congregation to help break the intergenerational cycle of crime and bring reconciliation and hope to families split by incarceration. Since 1982, Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree has delivered Christmas gifts to more than 8 million prisoners’ children nationwide, provided camping experiences to some 40,000 children of prisoners, and mentored some 5,000 prisoners’ children.