BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Ellen M. Corbett, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
SCR 20
Senator Liu
As Amended April 20, 2009
Hearing Date: May 5, 2009
KB:jd
SUBJECT
Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights
DESCRIPTION
This measure would encourage designated entities to distribute
the Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights to children
of incarcerated parents, and to invite discussion and encourage
relevant departments to use the Bill of Rights as a framework
for analysis and determination of procedures when making
decisions about services for these children.
BACKGROUND
Over the past eight years the California Research Bureau has
issued a series of reports focusing on California law as it
relates to the lives of incarcerated prisoners and their
children. (See Children of Incarcerated Parents, Charlene Wear
Simmons, CRB Note Vol. 7, No. 2, March 2000; Children of
Arrested Parents: Strategies to Improve Their Safety and
Well-Being, Clare M. Nolan, CRB 03-011, July 2003; California
State Prisoners With Children: Findings from the 1997 Survey of
Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, M. Anne
Powell, M.S.W., CRB 03-014, November 2003.) The reports have
highlighted the state's lack of clear policies and laws on how
criminal justice authorities, as well as the child welfare
system, should respond to circumstances and issues raised by
incarcerated parents and their children. As explained in the
reports, there are profound social, mental, and health
implications for children whose parents are incarcerated. These
problems have become even more pressing as the state's prison
population, particularly the female population, continues to
(more)
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increase dramatically.
In 2003, the San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents
Partnership (SFCIPP) published a Bill of Rights for children of
incarcerated parents. The Bill of Rights relies in part on the
research conducted by the California Research Bureau, as well as
interviews conducted with individuals who have experienced
parental incarceration.
This resolution would encourage designated entities to
distribute the Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights
to children of incarcerated parents, and to invite discussion
and encourage relevant departments to use the Bill of Rights as
a framework for analysis and determination of procedures when
making decisions about services for these children.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
This resolution states that as many as 1 in 10 children have a
parent who is in jail, prison, or on parole or probation.
This resolution states that over the last 15 years, federal and
state governments have expanded and lengthened criminal
sentences, particularly for drug offenses, incarcerating an
increasing number of adults.
This resolution declares that an unintended consequence of this
rapid increase in adult incarceration has been the growing
number of children whose parents are, or have been, in jail or
prison.
This resolution states that the California sample of a national
survey found that two-thirds of the state's prison inmates and
79 percent of the state's female prison inmates were parents,
with an average of 2.5 children for the men and 2.9 children for
the women.
This resolution declares that state law provides very limited
direction on how criminal justice authorities should interact
with the families and children of prisoners.
This resolution states that studies indicate that maintaining
family bonds during incarceration reduces recidivism for parents
and improves outcomes for children.
This resolution notes that the San Francisco Children of
Incarcerated Parents Partnership (SFCIPP) has developed a bill
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of rights for children of incarcerated parents and has turned it
into a resolution for the city.
This resolution outlines in detail the content of the bill of
rights of the San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents
Partnership.
This resolution encourages the State Department of Social
Services, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the
Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson, schools, relevant
nonprofit organizations, law enforcement agencies, and other
departments that interact with children of incarcerated parents
to distribute the Bill of Rights created by the San Francisco
Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership to identified
children of incarcerated parents, utilizing available funds.
This resolution further encourages these entities to invite
discussion and encourage relevant departments to use the Bill of
Rights as a framework for analysis and determination of
procedures when making decisions about services for the children
of incarcerated parents.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
The author states:
When a parent is incarcerated their children become unintended
victims. The trauma of an arrest event and the resulting
parent-child separation can have a profound effect on a
child's development, lasting well into adulthood. Child
difficulties include: difficulty sleeping, poor school
performance, truancy, use of alcohol or drugs, delinquency,
and an increased likelihood of becoming an inmate later in
life. Although this is an identified at-risk population,
California does little to protect the rights of the child and
mediate the impact of having an incarcerated parent.
2.Bill of Rights delineates important policy objectives for
children of incarcerated parents
The SFCIPP Bill of Rights outlines eight specific rights for
children of incarcerated parents, each of which have important
policy implications. They are as follows:
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I have the right to be kept safe and informed at the
time of my parent's arrest.
I have the right to be heard when decisions are made
about me.
I have the right to be considered when decisions are
made about my parent.
I have the right to be well cared for in my parent's
absence.
I have the right to speak with, see and touch my parent.
I have the right to support as I face my parent's
incarceration.
I have the right to not be judged, blamed, or labeled because
my parent is incarcerated.
I have the right to a lifelong relationship with my parent.
These rights encompass important policy goals that would help
assure that children's fundamental needs for safety, security,
and support are met while their parents are incarcerated.
Children of incarcerated parents are often just victims of
circumstance, and public policy is best served by ensuring that
they are not ignored, neglected, stigmatized, or deprived of a
relationship with their parent(s).
This resolution would not mandate the use of the SFCIPP Bill of
Rights, but rather encourage relevant state departments,
agencies, and organizations to distribute the Bill of Rights to
children of incarcerated parents. It also encourages these
entities to use the Bill of Rights to foster discussion, and as
a framework for analysis and determination of procedures when
making decision about services for children of incarcerated
parents.
1. Multiple states have begun to use a similar Bill of
Rights
To date, more than a dozen states and cities have used a version
of the SFCIPP Bill of Rights to help guide policymaking with
respect to children of incarcerated parents. (A Different Kind
of Jail, Katherine Mason & Nina Williams-Mbengue, State
Legislatures Magazine, December 2008.) Most recently, Hawaii
enacted SB 2345 (1st Sp. Sess. 2008, c 7, Sec. 2, effective July
8, 2008) which established guiding principles to be used by
state agencies in dealing with children of incarcerated parents.
(H.R.S. Sec. 346-14.3.) This statute incorporates many of the
principles delineated in the SFCIPP.
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2. Suggested technical amendment
On page 1, line 9 strike "this" and insert "a"
Support : John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes; Los
Angeles Dependency Lawyers, Inc.; Building Better Bridges;
Contribute; Arkansas Voices for the Children Left Behind, Inc.;
National Bill of Rights Policy Partnership for Children of the
Incarcerated; Community Works; three individuals
Opposition :None Known
HISTORY
Source : Author
Related Pending Legislation :
SB 118 (Liu) would require that approaches to child safety
protection include ensuring that an incarcerated parent receives
services required by the court to reunify that parent with his
or her children. It would also require that case plans for
children receiving child welfare services include, to the extent
possible, information about a parent's incarceration in
determining reasonable services to be offered or provided to
that parent's children. This bill is currently pending in the
Senate Human Services Committee.
Prior Legislation : None Known
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