Collateral Convicts: Children of Incarcerated Parents. Recommendations and good practice from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion 2011

By Oliver Robertson

This paper draws together many of the examples of good policy and practice that were made at the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Day of General Discussion (DGD) 2011, on the topic ‘Children of Incarcerated Parents’

The paper will begin with an introduction and some general principles to consider at all times, then look at some issues that occur at various points (data collection, future research and what to tell the children about their parent’s situation) before focusing in detail on each stage of the criminal justice process, from arrest to release and reintegration. Each section will begin with a general principle to help frame the issue, with more specific recommendations and examples of potential good practice made throughout the paper. The recommendations, good practice and issues are not meant to be exhaustive, but to highlight what emerged from the Day of General Discussion.

Geneva, SWIT: Quaker United Nations Office, 2012. 84p.