|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
|
State
Rep. Cherelle Parker |
|
Parker to introduce 'No Child Left Alone' Act
Legislation would address needs of children with incarcerated parents
HARRISBURG, Feb. 4 – State Rep. Cherelle Parker, D-Phila., will introduce legislation that would create a task force to determine the special and unique needs of children with incarcerated parents. The measure, to be known as the No Child Left Alone Act, would seek to gather information as to how the state can address this issue and how to assist caregivers in meeting these needs.
Parker said there are an estimated 1.5 million children in the United States under the age of 18 who have a parent currently incarcerated. In Pennsylvania, approximately 60 percent of incarcerated women in Pennsylvania have children 18 or younger.
"Startling as it may seem, one in five children has seen his or her mother taken into custody," Parker said. "Perhaps even more shocking is that there are few policies and protocols in place to ensure that even the most basic needs of these children are met during and immediately following this crisis."
Passing this legislation, Parker believes, would help prevent truancy, juvenile delinquency and drug and alcohol abuse that has been demonstrated among children with parents in prison. By reducing these tendencies, she added, Pennsylvania would help to diminish their effects on the already overburdened school systems and would help provide an avenue for these children to avoid falling into the cycle of inter-generational incarceration.
"While the crimes that many of these parents have committed are inexcusable, we cannot let their children be held accountable for their actions," Parker said. "Regardless of what their parents have done, these children deserve a fair shake at a productive life and it is up to us in the state legislature to make sure their unique needs are being met."
###wt/2008/agh
l:\print\releases\ncla_intro.200
|
CONTACT: Bill Thomas House Democratic Communications Office |