In America, 1 in 14, or more than 5 million kids are affected by parental incarceration. And yet, there is no guidance helping caregivers handle this situation.
Children experience incarceration, the absence of a family member, differently. They often keep their family problems to themselves and hide it from others. This is not what happened with the children of Dr. Rosemary Martoma. Her kids were constantly teased by their classmates. Shame, stigma and the loss of a parent can be traumatic for children with an incarcerated parent, but the Martoma kids didn't worry about keeping it a secret. Having it out in the open helped them adjust to the situation. Their mother, Dr. Martoma, created an online platform, Kidsmates, to help other kids in a similar situation.
According to the doctor, adults should be more supportive of these kids, and to help them, she created guidelines for caregivers.
The incarcerated parent can also provide powerful support. Dr. Martoma and her children visited their father several times during his incarceration, and together they tried everything to make these visits fun for the kids.
After reading every book on the shelf, they decided to create a prison book drive. KidsMates books transformed the visiting room culture in prisons. By 2018, they had received up to a thousand books.
Unfortunately, raising awareness about parental incarecartion is still difficult as the children and parents don't want to let others know about their situation. At school, these kids are often bullied and socially isolated. Dr. Martoma is a member of the American Academy of Peditrics (AAP) and has asked the institution to support her efforts. If she is successful, child healthcare could develop and the voice of these kids could be heard.
As of 13 March, due to Covid-19, social visits have been suspended and children of incarcerated parents are at a high risk of poor well-being.
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