7 percent of United States kids have had a parent in jail

Experts who study the children of inmates, or work with them, say parental incarceration is distinguished from other childhood woes by a mix of shame, stigma and trauma. For instance, researchers found that children age 6-11 were 9 percent more likely to experience difficulties in school than their peers who have not experienced parental incarceration (44 percent versus 35 percent).

Parental incarceration is among several major, potentially traumatic events known as “adverse childhood experiences”, which also include witnessing domestic violence, having parents who are divorced, and others.

The report was published online on Tuesday, October 27, by Child Trends, a nonprofit research center headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

One in 14 children have at least one parent behind bars and children in these situations suffer from low self esteem, poor mental and physical health, and other problems, a national research organization says.

The report showed that black, poor and rural children were more likely to have had a residential parent go to jail or prison.

“If your parent is a soldier overseas, everyone says, ‘Oh, you’re courageous, ‘ ” Shari Ostrow Scher, president of the Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership told the Associated Press. “We feel it’s important to put this on the radar screen” and help people “realize there’s more to it than the adults themselves”, Murphey said.

In addition, more prisons could implement special visitation programs, to allow children to bond with their incarcerated parents more easily.

Children of incarcerated parents struggle with separation from their parents, but also with stress associated with visitation. Data was collected between February 28, 2011, and June 25, 2012.

On the state level, Washington is leading on policies to foster positive relationships between parents in prison and their children, including child-friendly visiting areas in every one of its 12 state prisons which have books and games, according to the AP. The survey included 95,677 interviews.