By Illinois Task Force on Children of Incarcerated Parents

Nearly 200,000 children across Illinois have had a parent in jail or in prison, placing significant burdens on the caregivers and families left behind. While the trauma these children experience affects their educational attainment and multiple aspects of their mental and physical health, research shows regular visits not only improve their own outcomes but increase the likelihood that their parents will stay out of the criminal justice system once released. Recognizing the scope of these challenges facing families across Illinois, lawmakers created a Task Force on Children of Incarcerated Parents ("Task Force"), charged with developing recommendations to address these issues. The Task Force met nine times and held over a half dozen listening sessions from August 2019 to December 2020 under the guidance of State Representative Delia Ramirez with staff support from the Lieutenant Governor’s Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative and Cabrini Green Legal Aid. The group convened subject matter experts, impacted families, researchers and state agencies to collect and review agency policies, surveys, interviews with law enforcement agencies and input from youth and other community members.

Springfield, IL: Illinois Office of the Lieutenant Governor, 2020. 28p.