Recommendation 3: Texas Should Create Program Enhancements to Support the Children of Incarcerated Parents.
Studies indicate that the majority of incarcerated people return to live with their family members upon release. Efforts should be made to assist families as they strengthen themselves through positive visitations and social service support. The State should invest in the following:
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an enhancement to visitation environments. Specifically, enhancements to visitation that nurture parent-child bonding should become standardized. “Window visits,” in which visitors are separated from prisoners by glass and converse by telephone, are not appropriate for small children. In facilities such as county jails where these visits are the norm, exceptions should be made for prisoners with children. Furthermore, in facilities where contact visits already take place, visiting rooms should be designed with children’s needs in mind, or separate accommodations should be made for prisoners with children.
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mentoring/tutoring programs and counseling services for children of the incarcerated. Given that children of incarcerated parents are more than 6 times more likely than other children to enter the criminal justice system, the State should invest in interventions to support the educational, emotional, psychological, health, and mental health needs of these children in order to improve their outcomes in life. Programs that target these children should be welcomed into the TDCJ visitation environment to facilitate therapeutic family-based support. This programming should ultimately include interventions that span visitation and after-school programs that address the unique needs of these children.
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improved access to social services for families of the incarcerated.
These investments by the State will pay off over the long term when former offenders and their loved ones are more prepared for the re-entry transition.
Note: These services should be coordinated with services already being provided by Health and Human Services, child support programs, and additional state and community programs intended to aid families.