Impact
of
Parental Arrest
On Children and Youth

Trainer’s Guide

Developed by the Family and Child Welfare Research and Training Project/NMSU School of Social Worker in collaboration with CYFD Protective Services, DPSLawEnforcementAcademy, Blue Ribbon Commission on the Welfare of Jailed and Incarcerated Parents

HB 271Ensuring Child Safety Upon Arrest

NMDPS Accreditation # NM08-44

______

Impact of Parental Arrest

Preparation needed for training day

1. Flipchart/markers with welcome, name of training, name of trainer(s)

2. Power point

3. Laptop with DVD player, LCD projector, speakers

4. Manuals for all participants, includes name tents and evaluation forms

5. Handouts of case scenario: Copy each role on a different colored paper, each role includes a general statement of

situation. Prepare enough packets to allow for anticipated participants.

6. Bill of Rights DVD

Key learning points of the training

The focus of this training is to provide participants with the history and protocol of NM House Bill 271, now included in the Criminal Procedures, 31-1-8 NMSA (1978) (identification of minor or dependent children upon arrest, required inquiry; guidelines) and in Law Enforcement raining, 29-7-7.3 NMSA (1978) (ensuring child safety upon arrest; training). The training will include information concerning the impact that parental arrest has on children and youth, the protocol to be followed when arresting an adult and the required inquiry, the role of CYFD in issues of custody, and the relationship between law enforcement officers and CYFD personnel. The training will also cover strategies to reduce the traumatic impact of the arrest, and will allow participants an experiential opportunity to demonstrate knowledge of the law and trauma information through role play.

TIME: 8:00-8:40 AM

A.Introductions & Logistics

Preparation

1. Flipchart with welcome, name of training, name of trainer(s)

2. Power point

3. Laptop with DVD player, LCD projector

4. Manuals for all participants

Expectations for this section

This section is for welcoming the participants, setting the tone for the day, reviewing the learning objectives and agenda, and referencing the manual. Remind participants that there will be a mid morning break.

1. (1) Display introduction slide. Welcome trainees, introduce trainer(s), have participants introduce themselves.

2.(2)Briefly review the training overview and the agendafor this training, using the key learning points above.

  • Introductions
  • Task Force & The Law
  • Childhood Trauma: The Impact of Parental Arrest
  • Role of Law Enforcement
  • Role of CYFD
  • Discussion
  • Evaluation

3. Refer participants to the Participant Manual. Review learning objectiveson first page.

  1. Participants will demonstrate knowledge of HB 271 and understand the context in which it was developed including related activities developed by the Blue Ribbon Commission.
  1. Participants will understand the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement and CYFD during an arrest of a primary caregiver.
  1. Participants will demonstrate when and how to use the “Protocol” in different scenarios.
  1. Participants will identify different sources of alternate caregiversand appropriate circumstances when to make a referral to CYFD, including requirements of a 48-hour hold.
  1. Participants will identify safety considerations for a child and demonstrate ability to effectively complete a safety check.
  1. Participants will demonstrate effective non-threatening interview techniques when determining if a child is in need of care.
  1. Participants will demonstrate effective communication with children and alternate caregivers regarding the safety and well-being of a child.
  1. Participants will describe the minimum information an alternate caregiver requires.
  1. As it relates to arrest, participants will understand the Stress-Trauma Continuum, the link between developmental (childhood) trauma and adult behavior, and the importance of early intervention to mitigate childhood traumatic stress.
  1. Participants will identify required information necessary for documentation.

4.  (3,4)Reviewslides with statistics. Refer participants to their manual, Tab Child Rights, for additional statistics.

Trainer Information:

“Most correctional facilities provide family visitations; however, children may inevitably lose contact with their parent. According to Seymour (1998), approximately one-half of parents in the correctional system do not receive visits, and the other half report infrequent visits from their children. Geographical proximity is a major determining factor for loss of contact. It is difficult for caregivers to arrange visits when parents are in prisons hundreds of miles from where the children reside. Over 50% of state inmates and 40% of federal inmates live between 100 and 500miles from their children and 43% of federal inmates live more than 500miles from their children (Mumola, 2000). Even if a parent is in close proximity, they may be reluctant to allow their children to visit while in prison. Children may also show ambivalence, choosing to forgo visits to protect themselves from further disappointment. A caregiver may consider it psychologically harmful for the child to visit their parent in prison. Consequently, they are not forthcoming about the parent’s location and situation.” Kevin Miller,2006 Fordam Unv.

TIME: 8:40-8:55 AM

Preparation

1. Power point

2. Laptop with DVD player, LCD projector, speakers

3. Manuals for all participants

4. Bill of Rights DVD

B.Children’s Bill of Rights

Expectations for this section

Participants will gain understanding from a youth’s perspective, the significant impact that a parental arrest has on their lives.

1. (5)Display slide. Play the DVD, no introduction.

2. Refer participants to their manual. Tab Child Rights for the full Bill of Rights and vignettes of experiences of children.

3. Explain that the Bill of Rights does not imply that people should not be arrested. Nor does it override the judicial system or institutional concerns/requirements. It does highlight however the long-term effects of trauma experienced by children that could easily have been mitigated by police officers.

TIME: 8:55-9:05 AM

C.The Law: History and Context of HB 271

Preparation

1. Power point

2. Laptop with DVD player, LCD projector, speakers

3. Manuals for all participants

Expectations for this section

Participants will be exposed to the historical and conceptual information about HB 271.

Participants will gain knowledge about the goals of the law and recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Commission.

1.  (6) Display the introduction slide of this section.

2.  (7) Explain the significance and purpose of the Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on the Welfare of Children of Jailed and Incarcerated Parents.

Trainer Information:

This Commission was established in May of 2006 by Executive Order signed byGovernor Bill Richardson.The order identifies the need to strengthencommunication and collaboration between agencies, communities and other stakeholders to best serve the children and youth of incarcerated parents.

Governor Bill Richardson was approached with the information about the number of incarcerated parents in the state of NM, lack of visitation rights for their children and that there is no system to identify an arrestee’s children.The Governor established the BRC and challenged the commission to provideevidence that visitation was not occurring. Following a report of theirfindings and recommendations, legislation was enacted which brings us to why we are here today.

Here is an excerpt from the executive summary (full report found inTrainer’s supporting materials section):

“Nationally, an estimated one in thirty children as a parent behind bars. These children have committed no crime, but the price they pay is enormous. they may find themselves in the back seat of a police car, being delivered by strangers to an unknown location. They may be left to fend for themselves, not knowing why their mother or father hasn’t come home. They often move from caregiver to caregiver.

The trauma that children suffer from this sudden separation from their sole of primary caregiver leaves most vulnerable to fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, depression, or guilt. Without immediate positive intervention, the behavioral consequences can be severe: emotional withdrawal, school failure, delinquency, gang involvement, or drug use.Approximately one third of the children involved in the juvenile justice system have a parent in jail or prison.

The state does not have accurate data on the number of children with incarcerated parents, who they are, how old they are, or who is currently caring for them.

The Blue Ribbon Commission was charged with investigating arrest protocols, visitationpractices within detention facilities, and existing resources for children and caregivers in the state of New Mexico.

4.  (8) Review the goals of the Commission:

  • Identify children at time of parental arrest
  • Link children and their caregivers to services and resources
  • Ensure childrenhave access to incarcerated parents through visitation.

5.  (9) Reviewthe recommendations of the Commission:

  • Enact legislation directing that children will be identified upon parental arrest
  • Establish community-based Child Resource Advocates
  • Establish contact visitation between jailed and incarcerated parents and their children at demonstration sites

Trainer Information:

Child Resource Advocates will work within local detention facilities to link children and their caretakers to resources and facilitate communication andvisitation between children and incarcerated parents. (BRC Report)

Contact visitation between children and incarcerated parents is minimal or non-existent in detention facilities. Recommend four detention centers serve as demonstration projects. Currently there are two pilot sites, one in San Miguel and one in Bernalillo.

The 2008 Legislative Session appropriated an additional $600,000 to the development of community responses to offer support to arresting officers concerning child safety. CYFD has identified specific communities of greatest need and will focus the RFP on those areas and response services.

6.  (10-12)Review the highlights of the law. Refer participants to their manual, TabNMLaw.

(Slide 10)

  • An Act requiring law enforcement to identify minor or dependent children upon an arrest; providing for guidelines and a training program for ensuring child safety upon the arrest of a parent or guardian.

(Slide 11)

  • Inquire at the time of arrest whether the person is a parent or guardian of minor or dependent children who may be at risk as a result of arrest.
  • Make reasonable efforts to ensure safety in accordance with guidelines established by DPS.

(Slide 12)

  • Procedures to ensure law enforcement officers inquire about minor or dependent children.
  • Procedures for the proper arrangement of temporary care of children to ensure their safety and well-being.
  • Education on the effects trauma and how law enforcement can mitigate the long-term effects.

Trainer Information:

Researchers posit that when a child witnesses their parent’s arrest, they have increased chances for mental health issues. They become confused or unable to comprehend the consequences ofthe arrest. According to the Child Welfare League of America (1998), one in five childrenwitnessed their mother’s arrest, and those who did not reconstructed the event in their minds.Children may also experience frequent nightmares about the event. Youth witnessing theirparent’s arrest may distrust law enforcement, viewing them as a threat rather than individuals who provide protection for society. Kevin Miller, 2006

TIME: 9:05-9:45 AM

D.The Impact of Trauma

Preparation

1. Power point

2. Laptop with DVD player, LCD projector, speakers

3. Flipchart with markers

3. Manuals for all participants

Expectations for this section

This section teaches that the act of witnessing the arrest of a parent is traumatic. Being separated from a parent through incarceration is also traumatic. In addition to covering parental arrest and separation issues, this section addresses: the connection between early trauma and later juvenile delinquency as well as the physiological impact that trauma has on children and youth. The material summarizes behavioral difficulties associated with trauma and explores possible behavioral responses to the arrest from different developmental perspectives.

1.  (13) Displayslide.

2.  (14,15) Emphasize that parental arrest is traumatic, whether witnessed or not and when the parent is then incarcerated, the resulting separation can also be traumatic.

Trainer Information:

Separating a parent and child can also have profoundly negative effects. Even when it is necessary, research indicates that removing children from their homes interferes with their development. The more traumatic the separation, the more likely there will be significant negative development consequences.

Repeated separations interfere with the development of healthy attachments and a child’s ability and willingness to enter into intimate relationships in the future. Children who have suffered traumatic separations from their parents may also display low self-esteem, a general distrust of others, mood disorders (including depression and anxiety), socio-moral immaturity and inadequate social skills. Regressive behavior, such as bedwetting, is a common response to separation. Cognitive and language delays are also highly correlated with early traumatic separation.Urquhart, L. (1989). Separation and loss: Assessing the impacts on foster parent retention. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 6(3), 193-209.

3.  (16) Review the list of possible emotional and behavioral consequences that the child oryouth may exhibit if separated from the parent.

  • Anger
  • Rejection
  • Depression
  • Low self-esteem
  • Poor school performance
  • Developmental delays
  • Inadequate social skills

4.  (17) Emphasizethat trauma is a lasting effect and review statistics:

  • Children of incarcerated parents spend an average of 6 years 8 months separated from them.
  • 10% of children with incarcerated mothers will be placed in foster care.
  • More than 60% of parents in prison are held more than 100 miles from home.

5.  (18,19) Emphasize the future impact that trauma may have on a child/youth and that children and youth with early and/or multiple traumatic events are likely to repeat the pattern of being incarcerated.

  • Developmental trauma sets the course and direction of a person’s life.
  • Traumatized children are more likely to be substance abusers.
  • Children of incarcerated parents are6 to 10 times more likelyto end up in prison.

Trainer Information:

Children whose parents have been arrested and incarcerated face unique difficulties. Many have experienced the trauma of sudden separation from their sole caregiver, and most are vulnerable to feelings of fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, depression and guilt. They may be moved from caretaker to caretaker. The behavioral consequences can be severe, absent positive intervention—emotional withdrawal, failure in school, delinquency and risk of intergenerational incarceration.Cynthia Seymour, “Children with Parents in Prison: Child Welfare Policy, Program and Practice Issues”, Child Welfare, Special Issue, Children with Parents in Prison, Child Welfare League of America, Vol. LXXVII, September/October 1996, p. 472.

6.  (20) Explain that there is a Stress-Trauma Continuum. This is similar to explaining a Trauma scale. At one end there is stress, or less trauma and at the other end is significant trauma. The point here is that there is no way to know how the event will impact the child or youth until it has happened, therefore the goal is to reduce traumatic events if at all possible.

Trainer Information:

Characteristics of Traumatic Events

We frequently refer to events as traumatic. A traumatic event is one in which a person experiences, witnesses or is otherwise confronted with an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious physical injury or a threat to perceived physical integrity of self or others. There is a broad range of traumatic events. Trauma can occur following:

  • single trauma events (e.g., accidents, murders, suicides, assaults, disasters)
  • chronic trauma occurrences (e.g., physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence, war, torture)
  • traumatic loss events (e.g., sudden and unexpected deaths, violent deaths, death of a child)

What is Considered to be a Traumatic Event?

Traumatic events are characterized by the following:

  • threat to life and limb
  • severe harm and/or injury
  • being intentionally harmed or injured by someone
  • exposure to grotesque, violent or sudden loss of a loved one
  • witnessing or learning of violence to a loved one
  • causing death or severe injury to another

What Can Cause Post-Traumatic Stress?

  • witnessing domestic violence
  • fear and fundamental lack of safety in children living with chronic parental addiction or other situations engendering anxiety, fear and insecurity.
  • losing access to an absent parent or to a primary caregiver whoever that person may have been (e.g., grandparent, aunt, etc.)
  • being arrested, being kept in isolation in a custodial facility
  • being the victim of peer violence, emotional or physical
  • witnessing or having knowledge of the suicidal intentions or attempt of a family member, especially a parent

It is important to remember that reactions to trauma are not solely determined by events; rather there are a number of other factors to be considered including past history of trauma and coping strategies.

Why People React Differently to Trauma

A number of factors affect how people will respond to trauma. Some of the more significant ones include:

  • severity, magnitude and proximity of the trauma event and how prolonged it is
  • degree of fear, helplessness, powerlessness and horror
  • past history of trauma, loss and coping
  • degree and meaning of relationship with those most affected and intensity of the loss
  • degree of and accessibility of support in the environment—family, social, community
  • general ability of victims to cope with emotionally challenging situations

Major predictors of more serious long-term problems following trauma include the nature and magnitude of previous losses and trauma (especially childhood trauma) and effectiveness of coping strategies. Adapted from the official website of the Government of Canada.

Training Activity

7.  (21)The purpose of this activity is to illicit answers that help summarize the training points on the impact of trauma. It is certainly not obligatory for trainees to share the information. These questions are mostly to raise the level of awareness.

  • Identify a trauma that you have experienced. Think about what your body’s reaction was.
  • Could you still describe the details of the trauma today?
  • How old were you?
  • Does the memory of this trauma ever “pop” into your mind ?
  • Has the trauma changed your life in any way ?

Processing Point