LANSING (WKZO-AM) — It’s another side effect of Michigan’s higher-than-average prison population — Michigan is in the top five for the number of children growing up with a parent in prison.
One in 10 has experienced having a mother or father in jail. The percentage is even higher in minority families.
Michigan Kids Count spokesperson Alicia Guevara Warren said having a parent in prison can be a traumatic experience. It can plunge a family deeper into poverty, aside from all the stress that is involved.
Warren contends alternatives to prison, like drug and alcohol courts, need to be expanded, and improved. She also said educational opportunities need to be provided to those in prison.
Communities also need to offer programs and support for kids with parents in jail.
About 230,000 children in Michigan have had a parent incarcerated. Nationally, it’s over five million.
