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More than 2.7 million children—approximately 1 out of every 28 kids—in the United States under the age of 18 have a parent in jail or in prison, according to a 2010 report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. What challenges do these children and their parents face, and how can communities connect in particular with the children to make them feel safe, protected and accepted?
Join TIME for Kids Executive Editor Jaime Joyce with author Susan Burton and Antoinette (Toni) Carter, her daughter.
Burton founded A New Way of Life Reentry Project, which provides housing, case management, pro bono legal services, advocacy and leadership development for women rebuilding their lives after prison. After serving six prison terms and undergoing substance abuse treatment, Burton saved up money and in 1998 opened up a three-bedroom safe home in South L.A. Since then, she has grown the organization into a powerful grassroots movement dedicated to providing women the resources she was initially denied herself in order to start rebuilding their lives. Burton also is the author of Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women.
Carter was born into poverty and struggle to Burton, her teenage mother, as a result of a brutal rape. Throughout her childhood, Carter endured her mother’s drug and alcohol addiction, numerous arrests, and repeated incarceration. To cope with the trauma, she enveloped herself into her schoolwork and became an avid reader. Ultimately, Carter's mother gained sobriety and founded A New Way of Life Reentry Project. For herself, Carter has gone on to speak at prisons, drug treatment facilities, and other venues, talking to parents about the direct effects of their incarceration on their children.
Joyce is a multiple grantee of the Pulitzer Center. For TIME for Kids and TIME Edge Joyce traveled to California to report on two programs of The Center for Restorative Justice Works: Get on the Bus, which takes children on daylong trips throughout the state to spend time with their mothers and fathers in prison, and Camp Suzanne, which brings kids and incarcerated moms together for one week of extended visitation. Joyce’s reporting project provides a window into these experiences for younger readers, exploring how children and parents can stay connected during a period of incarceration, and what people do to help kids with parents in jail or prison feel safe, protected, and accepted.
This webinar is part of the Pulitzer Center’s online Talks @ Pulitzer Series Focus on Justice. Register today.