In 2013, the incarceration rate of the United States of America was the highest in the world with over 1.5 million prisoners in State and Federal correctional facilities. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 53% of those inmates in prison had minor children. In that year, an estimated 1.7 million children under the age of 18 had a parent in prison.

Race and ethnicity also played a large roll in the parental imprisonment statistics. Hispanic children were 2.7 times more likely to have a parent incarcerated and African-American children were 7.5 times more likely, compared to white families. The following graph represents the racial and ethnic differences in parental imprisonment for children. 2.4% of White children had experienced their parents being imprisoned by the age of 14, compared to the 13.8% of Hispanic children and 28.4% of African-American children.

2.7 Million Kids Have Parents in Prison. They’re Losing Their Right To Visit.

States have gutted family visitation programs in reaction to prison overcrowding, and racist ideals about black sexuality.

Incarcerated- Children of Parents in Prison Impacted

 70 percent of children with parents in prison are doomed to follow in the same footsteps as their parents becoming imprisoned at some point in their lives.

2.7 Million Kids Have Parents in Prison. They’re Losing Their Right to Visit

Incarcerated – Children of Parents in Prison Impacted