CHILDREN OF INCARCERATED PARENTS AND ENHANCED VISITATION PROGRAMS: IMPACTS OF THE LIVING INTERACTIVE FAMILY EDUCATION (LIFE) PROGRAM

DR. ELIZABETH DUNN AND J. GORDON ARBUCKLE AUGUST 2002

LIFE Evaluation Report August 2002 (PDF)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The estimated 1.5 million children of incarcerated parents are often overlooked in policy debates related to the correctional system. Yet, children who are separated from parents by prison can experience feelings of abandonment, sadness, and anger, which may lead to eating and sleeping disorders, lower academic performance, and disruptive behavior. There is also the potential for negative long-term impacts, such as an increased lifetime risk of incarceration. The Living Interactive Family Education (LIFE) program is designed to alleviate some of these negative impacts by providing incarcerated parents and their children with an enhanced visit setting organized around 4-H activities. The purpose of this paper is to report on the impacts of the LIFE program on the children who participate.

Prison Visitation

Studies show that frequent, regular visitation is beneficial to children of incarcerated parents. Children who visit their incarcerated parents score higher on measures of well-being, intelligence, and emotional and behavioral measures. However, traditional visit settings can be hard on children and incarcerated parents. Visitors experience long waits, crowded facilities, and behavioral restrictions. Conditions in the standard visit setting are generally inappropriate for children and are not conducive to meaningful parent-child interaction. Enhanced visitation programs can reduce the negative impacts of parental incarceration by allowing children and their parents to interact more closely in child-oriented environments.

The Living Interactive Family Education Program

The LIFE program is an enhanced visitation program operating at the Potosi Correctional Center (PCC), a maximum-security prison in Missouri. Incarcerated fathers and state 4-H staff developed the LIFE program. As a partnership between University Outreach and Extension and the Missouri Department of Corrections, the program is funded by a grant from the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) initiative of CSREES-USDA.

The overall objective of the LIFE program is to promote a strong, healthy, and nurturing family environment for children of incarcerated fathers, while helping those fathers become positive role models and mentors. The LIFE program provides children and their fathers with a low-stress, child-friendly environment in which they work together on 4-H activities based on youth and family development curricula. All LIFE fathers also attend monthly parenting skills classes.

Research Approach

The primary objective of this study was to determine the impacts of the LIFE program on the children who participate. A program logic model provided the research framework by indicating how the inputs, activities, and outputs of the LIFE program lead to positive impacts. The research approach included a review of literature, preliminary interviews with fathers, and a formal focus group interview. In these interviews, fathers discussed program-related changes in their relationships with their children and changes that they have observed in their children as a result of the program. This report is based on what fathers had to say about these changes.

Characteristics of the LIFE Program

Fathers identified several program characteristics that lead to positive impacts on children. The less restrictive visit setting allows everyone to move more freely, express themselves physically, and interact spontaneously. The curricula-based projects and activities provide the opportunity for fathers and children to work as teams in order to achieve constructive goals. Outside the 4-H meetings, fathers attend classes to improve their parenting skills. These characteristics can be viewed as program inputs: they are the elements of the LIFE program that contribute to the program's effectiveness in having positive impacts on the children and youth who participate.

The LIFE Program's Impacts on Children

The positive impacts that fathers attribute to the program can be grouped into five categories:

1. Stronger relationships:  The development of stronger parent-child relationships through discovery, the development of mutual respect, and program activities that promote bonding.
2. Improved communication:  Improvements in the lines of communication between parent and child.
3. Family unity:  The creation and reinforcement of a sense of family unity between fathers, children, and caregivers.
4. Life skills:  The development of important life skills in the children, such as leadership, empathy, and self-control.
5. Improved behavior:  Improved behavior and academic performance by the children.

According to the fathers, the enhanced interaction in LIFE 4-H meetings leads to a process of learning and discovery and fosters the development of deeper bonds between parents and children. The curricula-based projects and activities help parents and children develop mutual respect as they develop life skills. The parenting meetings give fathers new parenting skills and tools, and a greater understanding of what it means to be a father. These changes lead to better communication and overall improvements in parent-child relationships. The deeper bonds, mutual respect, and improved lines of communication have allowed fathers to become positive influences in their children's lives. Taken together, these positive impacts lead to improvements in the children's social and academic adjustment and overall well-being.

There are a number of studies to indicate that the children of incarcerated parents experience negative impacts, and there are a few studies to indicate that enhanced visitation programs can have beneficial effects. The results of this evaluation of the LIFE program indicate that it has led to substantial positive impacts on the children who participate. If enhanced visitation programs can significantly help the children of incarcerated parents, then the LIFE program provides a model for improving the lives of some of the large number of children affected throughout Missouri and the rest of the country.

Tammy Gillespie, director of the 4-H LIFE Program, can be reached at 573-882-3316 or gillespiet@missouri.edu.

The original 4-H LIFE project evaluators provided the research and design for this web display.
Dr. Elizabeth Dunn and J. Gordon Arbuckle.

Video footage by William Helvey, Ag. & Extension Information Center, Lincoln University, and
Bob Nash, Mineral Area TCRC Coordinator. Photography by Tammy Gillespie, Lynna Lawson,
Rick Secoy, and Rob Wilkerson. Graphics and web development by Jeanne Bintzer.

This program is supported by the University of Missouri Extension and the
 Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Initiative.