Recognition Recognition
For many of the close to 200,000 children of prisoners in Florida, daily life is full of hardships.

These children often struggle with grief, shame, depression and delinquency. Many are at risk of developing mental illness and ending up incarcerated themselves.

On top of that, most live in homes where the income level is well below the poverty line.

Many experts believe that children with incarcerated parents are some of the most difficult at-risk populations to identify and serve because they are hard to find and have tremendous needs.

Children of Inmates, Inc. is working on a solution by addressing the little-known problems facing children of the incarcerated.

Our staff and collaboration of 11 faith-based and professional agencies offer wrap around care coordination services and opportunities to strengthen familial bonds for hundreds of these children, from birth to the age of 18, at any given time.

We help this underserved population by:

  • Using a systematic process to receive referrals of children needing assistance from the community, local law enforcement, jails, and state prisons.
  • Proactively locating hard-to-find children to ensure they are safe and with a responsible adult caregiver.
  • Establishing community-based Care Centers with dedicated staff available to respond to crises facing children and provide them wrap around care coordination by leveraging existing community partnerships and resources.
  • Offering counseling and mentoring services to children to reduce their risks for anti-social behaviors, facilitate their stabilization, and improve their developmental progresses.
  • Creating opportunities to strengthen bonds between children and their incarcerated parents through quarterly Bonding Trips to state correctional institutions throughout the state, jail bonding visits, and regular video conferencing.
  • Raising community awareness about the consequences of parental incarceration on children, while concurrently debunking the stigma associated with having an incarcerated parent.