Childhood Poverty

This morning, staff attended the Child Poverty Collaborative: A Conversation with Scott Spencer. Mr. Spencer's report "A Shared Sentence: the devastating toll of parental incarceration on kids, families and communities" provides a snapshot of mass incarceration's role in child poverty.

According to the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, Ohio has the 7th largest prison population in the nation! In Ohio, Blacks comprise 12% of the population but make up 40+% of the prison population. Individuals who are black and brown continue to be disproportionately represented in our prison system.

Additionally, 1 in 6 Ohioans (1.92 million) have a criminal conviction for a felony or misdemeanor. These criminal backgrounds, in many cases, are having significant impacts on an individual securing and maintaining employment, their and their family's well-being, the community & our world.

The report also provided several recommendations: (1) Ensure children are supported while parents are incarcerated and after they return; (2) Connect parents who have returned to the community with pathways to employment; (3) Strengthen communities, particularly those disproportionately affected by incarceration and reentry, to promote family stability and opportunity.

If we're going to have an impact & reduce childhood poverty, it will require all of us working together to impact multiple systems.