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09/29/2011

UN Spotlight - Day of General Discussion on Children of the Incarcerated

Children whose parents are in prison will come under the UN spotlight for the first time ever on Friday. At its 2011 Day of General Discussion (DGD), the Committee on the Rights of the Child will explore the rights of ‘children of incarcerated parents’. These children have committed no crime but are deeply affected by their parents' involvement in the criminal justice system.  
Almost uniquely, children themselves will speak at the main session of the DGD, which with up to 250 participants is expected to be the biggest ever.
 
1) WEBCAST: We are delighted to announce that the DGD will be webcast. To follow the event live (Friday 10am until 6pm, with a break for lunch from 1pm until 3pm), go to www.ustream.tv/ Our channels are CRCDGD and CRCDGD2.
 
To watch the plenary and working group 1 live (babies and children living with or visiting a parent in prison), go to:  
 
To watch working group 2 live (children left 'outside' when their parent is incarcerated), go to:
 
As with any live broadcast, it may be subject to disruption. A recording will be made available after the event.
 
2) WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS: Many interested parties have provided written submissions - thanks to all of you who did so. They include recommendations as well as issues or problems, often giving expert insight into specific aspects of the issue (such as feeding babies and children living in prison, or making visits child-friendly) with solid recommendations for improved policy or practice. The submissions can be accessed at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/discussion2011.htm (right-hand corner).
 
3) PRESS RELEASE: We are keen to publicise the event. This is the first time that this neglected issue has been discussed substantively anywhere in the UN. Please find attached a press release. It would be great if you could circulate it to any media contacts that you may have in your countries.
 
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact:
 
Helen Kearney, Programme Assistant (Human Rights and Refugees) Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO)
quno2@quno.ch
www.quno.org

Posted at 03:26 PM |

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Resolution 545-05

Our Current Projects

  • Our work is mainly focused in the San Francisco Bay Area, although we have consulted with projects across the country.

    Here is a sample of what we are working on at the moment:

    We are working with the San Francisco Jail and a group of community and public agency partners known as the One Family Working group on an enhanced contact visiting and parenting support initiative in the San Francisco jail that is rolling out by offering contact visiting in the unite that houses women and has the ultimate aim of offering supported family visiting to every child with an eligible mother or father in the county jail.

    We are working with the police to develop a training based on a citywide joint protocol that fosters collaboration between the child welfare department and the police to ensure the immediate safety and long-term stability of children whose parents are arrested.

    We are exploring how an understanding of the impact of incarceration on families can help inform sentencing.

    We are developing training on the impact of arrest and incarceration on children and youth at various stages of their development, including a training resource bank for public agencies and community groups that interact with these children.

    We support a youth-led organization of young people whose parents are incarcerated, who present to the public about their experience and how to improve services to them and others in the same situation, and who are developing curricula for teachers, social workers, and others who work with children of the incarcerated.

    We are expanding SFCIPP to include input from CASAs (Court Appointed Special Advocates), mental health providers, and others who may not previously been included in the dialogue about these children, their needs and their strengths.

    We are working with The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Family to Family Initiative and the San Francisco Human Services Agency to improve supports and services for families involved with both the child welfare department and the prison/jail system. Activities include increased visitation by children in the child welfare system for their parents in the jail and prison, improving an internal data collection system, creating policy and practice language within their child welfare worker handbook, and developing a toolkit for social workers.

    We share information and knowledge with foundations and other collaborations across the country.