Update Emerging Issues for Incarcerated Parents and Their Children

1. UpdateEmerging Issues for Incarcerated Parents and Their Children Thomas E. Lengyel, MSW, Ph.D. Director, Research & Evaluation Services Alliance for Children and Families State Task Force on Children of Incarcerated Parents Honolulu, Hawai’i Revised September 28, 2005

2. Sponsors Child and Family Service Blueprint for Change Parents and Children Together (PACT)

3. Structure of Presentation • Cost-benefit analysis of incarceration • Updates on prison population • Update on costs/benefits of incarcerating drug felons in Hawai’i • Update on policy recommendations

4. Review of Cost-benefit Analysis • Factual Foundations • Social cost and social benefit • Elements of social cost • Elements of social benefit • Scale of offenses; scale of offenders • Prison as an economic space

5. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Factual Foundations (1) • The majority of prisoners in both state and federal prisons are parents with minor children - 56% • Female prisoners are 6.8% of the total prison population; men are 93.2% • For state prisoners, 65% of women and 55% of men have minor children • Hawai’i may have more parents on average

6. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Factual Foundations (2) • Women prisoners are in worse shape at admission than men • Women with children are worse off than women without children • More drug abuse, alcohol addiction, mental illness, homelessness, low educational attainment, and poverty • 10% of mothers’ children are in foster care; 2% for fathers • Women prisoners in Hawai’i may be worse off than their mainland counterparts

7. Cost-Benefit Analysis:The Nature of “Social Benefit” Two basic parts to the concept • Deterrence • Commission of a crime is averted because the potential perpetrator fears the consequences • Effect is largest with property crimes that have low social costs • Incapacitation • Commission of a crime is averted because the potential perpetrator is unable to commit crime • Benefit is greatest with violent crimes

8. Cost-Benefit Analysis:The Concept of Social Cost • Definition: Contextual or downstream costs of a course of action • Destroyed resources • Additional needs generated by an action • Foregone benefits to society that would have been experienced had the action not taken place • Social cost of prison is distinct from lockup cost

9. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Social Costs of Incarceration (1) • Direct costs(quantified) • Presentence investigation and assessment • Foster care for placed children • Additional social, health, educational services, & child care for dependents • Post-release supervision (parole) • Lost child support from non-custodial incarcerated parents

10. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Social Costs of Incarceration (2) • “Grey” costs(quantifiable; research ongoing) • TANF for dependents & caregivers • Food stamps • Medicaid/SCHIP • Housing assistance • Economists prefer to call these transfer payments

11. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Social Costs of Incarceration (3) • Indirect costs(not currently quantified) • Trauma to children leading to: • Increased special education, physical and mental health services, and other support • Decreased future productivity • Increased criminality • Hidden costs(costs born by others - not quantified) • Family supervision of children • Family housing of parent & children post-release

12. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Social Costs of Incarceration (4) • Bottom Line: Preliminary work suggests direct social costs are about twice the cost of lockup (see White Paper for details) • Probably a conservative estimate

13. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Social Benefit of Incarceration Benefit of Incapacitation • Non-crime related reduction of prison population results in 14.7 additional index crimes • Cost of various index crimes calculable • Net savings for adding one prisoner is $75,945 in reduced index crime (updated to 2005 dollars)

14. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Social Benefit of Incarceration • Most costly crimes are murder, assault, and robbery • Accounts for about $56,360 of the effect (2005 dollars) • Least costly crimes are burglary, rape, auto theft, and larceny • Each of these crimes costs on average $4,040 per crime (2005 dollars)

15. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Scale of Offenses Assumption: An offender will tend to commit the same type of offense for which they were sentenced • Offense Scale : Offenses can be arranged on a scale by the social benefit from their avoidance Murder > Assault > Burglary > Drug use More benefit < > Less Benefit

16. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Scale of Offenders Offender Scale • Offenders can be arranged on a scale by the net cost (lockup + social cost) of their incarceration Women w. Men w. Men w/o multiple multiple children minor children children More cost < > Less cost

17. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Prison as an Economic Space

18. Update: Prisoner Census (1)

19. Update: Prisoner Census (2)

20. Prisoner Census: Findings • Hawai’i’s prison population has increased about 8% in the past two years • Women prisoners increased at more than double the rate of men - 15.2 % • The number of prisoners held on the mainland has grown by 42.5% • The proportion of prisoners held on the mainland has increased from 22.5% in 2003 to 29.8% today

21. Update: Prisoner CensusDrug Felons

22. Prisoner Census: Findings • Between June 2003 and August 2005 prisoners serving mandatory minimum sentences for drugs grew by 37.5% • Almost all the growth was for the lower offense categories (B and C) • The most dramatic growth was for women incarcerated for Class C offenses – 69.1% • Implication: Hawai’i is experiencing significant growth in categories of prisoners with the greatest total cost and the smallest social benefit

23. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Drug Felons in Hawai’i Net Incarceration Cost Calculation

24. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Drug Felons in Hawai’i Social Benefit Calculation

25. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Drug Felons in Hawai’i • Cost-benefit Comparison

26. Drug Felons in Hawai’i:Lessons Learned Conclusions • It’s worthwhile to scrutinize classes of prisoners • Numbers and classes of prisoners are determined in large part by state policy • The state has the ability to reduce the prison population through policy, legislation, and legal practice (e.g., prosecution, sentencing)

27. Drug Felons in Hawai’i:Lessons Learned Conclusions • Savings from prisoner reductions should be invested in programs that delay or forestall incarceration, such as job training, economic opportunity, and drug abuse education and treatment • New prisons should be accompanied by a full set of services to stem the upward spiral caused by recidivism, especially with drug offenders

28. White Paper Findings:Policy Recommendations (1) The following recommendations were made in the original White Paper in October 2003: 1. We lack accurate knowledge of parent-prisoners and children • Keep demographic information on all children, on custody (legal and informal), on care giving arrangements, and on services needed or anticipated. • Integrate family information into DPS central databank on prisoners on a regular basis. 2. Incarcerated parents risk losing a role in their children’s lives • Require consultation with the parent in child welfare case planning • Inmate-parents should have court-appointed counsel in child welfare cases • Grant exceptions from the 15-month rule of the ASFA under "best interest of the child" exception

29. Findings:Policy Recommendations (2) 3. Placement on the mainland, based on economic considerations, forecloses the possibility of visits • DPS should factor in the ability to maintain parent-child contact when making prison placements • Parent inmates should be placed on the basis of the "best interest of the family“ 4. Post-release residence with extended family or relatives burdens relationships with extended family, & complicates reunification with children • Assist parent-prisoners in arranging their own housing prior to release, including day furloughs for this purpose

30. Findings:Policy Recommendations (3) 5. Research on the effect of a parent’s incarceration focuses on mothers and relies exclusively on caregiver reports • Sponsor research based on direct contact with children that examines the impact of their parent's incarceration • Part of the research should focus on the relationship of incarcerated fathers with their children 6. Substance abuse treatment services are grossly inadequate both in prison and in the community • Provide appropriate substance abuse treatment on demand both in the community and in prison

31. Findings:Policy Recommendations (4) 7. Non-custodial parents are unable to pay child support while in prison • Child support orders for non-custodial parents should be set at zero at the time of sentencing 8. Children’s visits to their parents are encumbered by physical environments and policies that discourage the development of their relationship with the parent • Create a friendly visiting environment for families and children and encourage contact

32. Findings:Policy Recommendations (5) 9. Grandparents & relatives seldom have adequate resources to fulfill the role they play in the lives of COIP • Initiate supports for grandparent and relative caregivers of children with parents in prison, including respite care, housing assistance, parenting support, & material support 10. The net cost of incarceration of certain prisoners likely exceeds the corresponding social benefit • Shift from incarceration to community supervision and support for certain classes of inmates who are now serving time

33. Cost-Benefit Analysis:Acknowledgements Thanks to: • Ken Hashi, Department of Public Safety • Amalia Bueno, Department of Public Safety Contact information: Thomas E. Lengyel Alliance for Children and Families 11700 W. Lake Park Drive Milwaukee, WI 53224 (414) 359-1040, x. 3637 tlengyel@Alliance1.org