Guiding principles

The rights of the child and the principle of the best interests of the child must be respected at all times

Recommendation 1: The specific vulnerabilities of children of incarcerated parents must be considered and taken into account. These children have rights and those rights must be protected. Children should not be discriminated against because of the actions of a member of their family or for any other reason. The best interests of the child must be considered explicitly in all decisions that affect these children (Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 3). These children must be provided with the opportunity for their views to be heard, directly or indirectly, in relation to decisions which may affect them (Article 12).

Guiding principles

Children of parents in conflict with the law require special attention

Recommendation 2: The children of parents in conflict with the law have the same basic needs as any other child, but they face different challenges due to the situation of their parents and, generally speaking, the negative social reaction to persons in conflict with the law and their families. These children are at risk of being ostracized and stigmatized by people around them, being victimized in various ways, or developing behavioral problems (including finding themselves in conflict with the law). These risks are real and should be kept in mind, but not overly dramatized so as to avoid further stigmatizing children. Most importantly, the needs and circumstances of these children must be taken into account to provide them with opportunities comparable to those of other children and parents.

Guiding principles

Do no harm

Recommendation 3: There is unfortunately a risk in directing attention to the challenges faced by a child/children of parents in conflict with the law that it might contribute to their further stigmatization and isolation. It is very important to intervene “lightly”, with proper attention to protecting the privacy of these children, while helping them fight isolation (or worse, association with high-risk groups like a gang). Care must be taken to ensure that no intervention ever contributes directly or indirectly to the stigmatization of these children as “problem children”; they are simply children who need special protection and support. Agency practices should never be detrimental to the physical safety and emotional wellbeing of the children. This requires that a trauma-informed approach be used with children and adults. Situations or processes can raise past experiences of trauma that involved the victimization or potential victimization for both the children and adults.

Guiding principles

The views and voice of the child must be heard

Recommendation 4: At all stages of any intervention, children’s views should be sought, and children’s voices should be heard. Children should be helped to develop a plan for their own care and support. Strategies and processes are required to make sure that children are appropriately informed about what is happening to their parents (when they are separated), and about the decisions that are made that can affect them.

Guiding principles

The centrality of the role of parents

Recommendation 5: Parents play an important role in helping children go through the difficult experience of parental incarceration or conflict with the law. That role, however, is subject to some important caveats relating to the child’s safety, wellness, development, etc. It is important to support, as appropriate, the role of the incarcerated parent from the start of detention and after release.

Guiding principles

Cultural sensitivity

Recommendation 6: Culture is an important element of a child’s development and all interventions must be culturally sensitive and appropriate.

Guiding principles

Importance of traditional Indigenous practices

Recommendation 7: When Indigenous children are involved, parents, extended family, Elders, and trusted community members must be involved in guiding service providers, caregivers, and foster parents in the customary laws of the community and traditional Indigenous child rearing practices (including adoption).

Practical measures and strategies

Mobilizing the community in order to strengthen the protective environment for the children of incarcerated parents and other parents in conflict with the law

Recommendation 8: Everyone in the community who carries a responsibility for the care, education and protection of children (including but not limited to agencies with a formal mandate) must come together to support these children.

Recommendation 9: Cooperation among health and child welfare services, the police, correctional officials, officials with responsibility for protecting children and their rights, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations offering support to children and their families, faith-based groups, Indigenous councils, and municipal authorities is required. However, there is no need to “reinvent the wheel”. Communities should make the best use of existing resources and coordination mechanisms. They may need to expand participation in these mechanisms in order to include all those who can play a role in helping this particular group of children.

• Make good use of existing coordination mechanisms.
• As necessary, develop interagency protocols or agreements concerning information sharing and case referrals (with adequate protection for privacy and confidentiality).
• Review existing agreements to determine whether they are sufficient to address the situations of children of parents in conflict with the law.

Practical measures and strategies

Improving ways of identifying the children in need of assistance without further stigmatizing them

Recommendation 10: Everyone in the community (neighbours, friends of the family, teachers, sports coaches, elders, religious figures, police, etc.) potentially has a role to play in making sure that children affected by their parents’ conflict with the law are identified, assisted, and protected. Relying solely on the children to come forward and ask for assistance is not realistic. Relying on the parents to come forward and seek help for their children is not reliable. Parents often fear the intervention of child protection services. In many instances they already have a history of contacts with these services. Finally, relying on the justice system itself to transmit information to child welfare and protection agencies is not sufficient either.

• Proactively seek to identify children in need of assistance, without labelling or stigmatizing them.
• Increase outreach activities to offer support to the children and their caregivers.
• Ensure that people working with or coming in contact with children as part of their professional responsibilities recognize the children’s signs of distress, isolation, need for assistance.
• Improve inter-agency sharing of information concerning the children while protecting their privacy and ensuring the confidentiality of that information.
• Ensure that all agencies and organizations have a proactive child protection policy that acknowledges the particular issues and needs of children who have a key relationship with a parent in conflict with the law.