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.

Practical measures and strategies

Improving information exchange among those who can offer support and assistance to the children

Recommendation 11: One must attempt to facilitate the exchange of information among those agencies, institutions, and services that are able to offer care and assistance to children of parents in conflict with the law. At the same time, the privacy protection measures guiding information exchange must be respected. In that way, organizations are provided with the mandate and capacity to collaborate and share information to provide a continuum of care to the children and their families.

• Remove obstacles that hinder outreach activities and the identification of children of parents in conflict with the law by those who can offer them support and assistance. This may involve re-examining, in the light of the principle of the best interests of the child, any privacy and confidentiality protection measure or other factors hindering information exchange and collaboration among and between agencies and significant community resources. For example, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act can be upheld through individuals and families controlling access to and disclosure of personal information through informed consent.
• Develop interagency protocols regarding the sharing of information in order to facilitate supportive interventions, or review existing cooperation protocols.
• Ensure that interagency protocols clearly specify the situations in which a guardian’s or a family’s permission to share information is not required, for example when there are child and adult protection issues.

Practical measures and strategies

Increasing the support available for children of incarcerated parents

Recommendation 12:

• Provide children with access to emotional and psychosocial support, including help in dealing with stress, trauma, and feelings of stigma, blame and shame.
• Ensure the children’s safety and, if necessary, develop and implement child safety plans; allow the child to stay in his/her home under a “supervision order” with conditions that the parents must follow; and, remove the child if the child safety cannot be ensured.
• Improve the children’s access to existing programs (sport, recreation, mentoring, etc.).
• Facilitate the integration of children into a new school or a new community when they have to relocate.
• Help normalize the child’s life (increased adult support and conversations, new relationships, activities, etc.).
• Offer support to children who have developed behavioural issues that affect their adaptation in school, participation in sports, or enjoyment of recreational and sport activities.

Practical measures and strategies

Increasing support for the families

Recommendation 13: The incarceration of one parent often results in various forms of hardship for the rest of the family, particularly the children. Imprisonment disrupts positive, nurturing relationships between many parents—particularly mothers who are often the sole or primary caregiver—and their children. Children and their families suffer economic strain and instability when a parent is imprisoned. Family members are not guilty of anything. All agencies and services involved with the families should try to mitigate the impact on family members at all stages of the criminal justice system, ensuretheir rights are upheld, and ensure they are not discriminated against because of the actions of their family member. Supporting the families and strengthening the children’s positive family connections are necessary to ensure a healthy child development. Different forms of support are needed.

• Encourage the various agencies and services involved with the children to work towards positive family outcomes and to adopt consistent practices in the support of families and positive life outcomes for the children.
• Ensure that families understand the criminal justice process and are aware of the supports available.
• Provide information to families and ensure that the information provided is timely and accurate.
• Encourage and support parents and caregivers to explain procedures, decisions and the truth of the situation to children in an age appropriate manner.
• Ensure that families have access to information and assistance on a range of issues such as housing, benefits and finances, legal issues, health, or childcare.
• Facilitate appropriate contacts between family members and the incarcerated parent.
• Provide guidance to agencies dealing with families of parents in conflict with the law.
• Conduct family impact assessments when new policies and practices are developed that may affect the families of people in conflict with the law.
• Keep incarcerated parents informed about the situation and well-being of their children and other family members, and support them in managing family concerns as appropriate.