Having a parent in jail or prison can have the same impact on a child’s well-being as abuse or domestic violence, according to a new report that is pushing for the expansion of support services to families affected by incarceration.
Children of incarcerated parents face increased risks of financial and emotional instability, the new study, released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, reports.
“Incarceration breaks up families, the building blocks of our communities and nation,” reads the study. “It creates an unstable environment for kids that can have lasting effects on their development and well-being.”
Some 186,000 kids in Illinois, representing 6 percent of the state’s child population, have a parent who has served time behind bars. Nationally, 5 million kids, or 7 percent of the child population, have had a parent in jail or prison during their childhood, according to the research, based on data from 2011 and 2012.
The voices of the displaced were heard throughout Logan Square on Saturday as demonstrators shouted and chanted over a bed of drums and shakers, calling on Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) to stop the gentrification of the neighborhood.
Police accountability and housing activists are pushing back against city government as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel attempts to replenish his campaign coffers at his first fundraiser since the Laquan McDonald shooting video was released.
The U.S. labor market remains tough for today’s young high school and college graduates, but their job prospects are brighter than they were for past groups of students who graduated in the wake of the Great Recession, finds