Developing Family-friendly Visiting Experiences through a Jail-University Partnership

• In Event: Policy Panel: Perspectives on Jail and Prison Visitation

Abstract

Recent estimates suggest that more than 5 million children have a parent currently or formerly incarcerated (Murphey & Cooper 2015). As an adverse childhood experience, parental incarceration can be enormously stressful for children (Bocknek, Sanderson, & Britner, 2008). One issue children face is a lack of family-friendly visiting supports (Shlafer, Loper, & Schillmoeller, 2015), which can increase children’s stress (Poehlmann, Dallaire, Loper, & Shear, 2010) and limit caregivers’ willingness to bring children for visits (Tasca, 2015), ultimately reducing contact between parents and their children. Although many scholars have called for correctional facilities to modify visiting practices and policies to be more family-friendly, such recommendations often lack specificity or explicit strategies for balancing support for families with safety and security. In this presentation, we will describe an innovative partnership between jail administrators and university researchers in one jail in the Midwest. We will describe specific reforms implemented to the jail’s website (e.g., adding recommendations for caregivers visiting with children), waiting and visiting spaces (e.g., increasing availability of children’s books), and visiting policies and procedures (e.g., permitting step- and foster children to visit). We will discuss benefits and challenges to such partnerships, and provide recommendations for others advocating for family-friendly visiting policies.

Authors

• Rebecca Shlafer, University of Minnesota

• Laurel Davis, University of Minnesota