Children of Inmates Needs Your Help to Buy School Uniforms for Our Children

Most families have the means to buy school clothing for their children.

That’s not the case for many families and caregivers raising children of incarcerated parents.

They often struggle to find even $40 to spend on a school uniform which consists of an embroidered shirt and khaki pants.

In Miami-Dade County alone, as many as 60 percent of the 700 children assisted by Children of Inmates, Inc. are being raised by people with fixed incomes that are too strained to afford standard school uniforms.

So too often, some of our children end up missing days, even weeks, of school because they don’t have the proper uniforms to attend classes.

Our organization provides wrap-around social services for the children and reconnects them with their incarcerated parents through quarterly bonding trips to correctional institutions. Many of the children are more likely than their peers to become delinquent, engage in anti-social behavior, and fall behind in school. Already poor, many become more impoverished when their parents are incarcerated.

At school, many children of incarcerated parents are bullied because of their parents’ status. School uniforms help promote social equality by reducing peer pressure and creating a more positive social environment. Uniforms also are less expensive than designer clothing.