S.C.I.P.

“SCIP” stands for “Study of the Children of Incarcerated Persons.” University of Wyoming researchers at the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center (WYSAC) are conducting SCIP to understand the specific health and well-being needs of Wyoming’s children of the incarcerated. In other words, SCIP represents an unprecedented attempt to provide much needed services to some of Wyoming’s most disadvantaged children. SCIP is a product of several different state agencies working cooperatively to achieve one goal: to better serve the children of the incarcerated within the state of Wyoming. The state agencies participating in SCIP include Wyoming’s Department of Health - Substance Abuse Division, Department of Corrections, Department of Education, and Department of Family Services. Once SCIP researchers determine the specific needs of these children, they will recommend support services to Wyoming policy and lawmakers specifically tailored to assist these Wyoming children and the households in which they live. To accomplish these goals, SCIP employs a comprehensive mixed-method research design. The design includes the use of surveys, face-to-face structured interviews, focus groups, as well as a meta-analysis of existing research on Children of Incarcerated Persons (CIP). In doing so, SCIP researchers provide Wyoming’s policymakers with the information they need to address tomorrow's public health and public safety problems today. Moreover, Wyoming is served by the creation and implementation of a model Children of Incarcerated Persons (CIP) data collection and analysis project.

How many children have incarcerated parents?

To help put the Wyoming situation into a larger context, we discuss national figures first. According to a special report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics issued by the U.S. Department of Justice through its Office of Justice Programs (BJS, 2000), the (crude) number of children, in 1991, who had a parent in prison at the state or federal level was 936,500 (or approximately 1 million children). By 1999, there were 1,498,800 children in America with an incarcerated parent. In other words, in less than a decade, the nation’s Children of Incarcerated Persons (CIP) population grew by approximately 500,000 children. Based on Bureau of Justice Statistics data (BJS, 2000), using basic demographic population projections, WYSAC/SCIP researchers have estimated that by 2007, America’s CIP population will climb to 2,378,467 should current policies remain unaltered and uniformly carried out. According to a BJS special report entitled, “Incarcerated Parents and Their Children” (BJS, 2000):

• 55% of state prisoners had children under the age of 18
• 40% of fathers in state prison reported weekly contact with their children
• 60% of mothers in state prison reported weekly contact with their children
• 60% of parents in state prisons reside over 100 miles from their last place of residence

With 46% of parents incarcerated in state prisons reporting that they were, living with their children prior to their incarceration, the BJS (2000) report illustrates a disturbing picture of children who need special assistance from state and federal officials. Ignoring this disadvantaged population of children, who have done nothing wrong, is no longer an option for policymakers and health and safety officials alike.

These disturbing national trends have compelled Wyoming’s public health and safety policymakers to explore innovative programming strategies to bring down the (crude) numbers associated with Wyoming’s CIP population growth. SCIP is an integral part of developing such programming strategies.

Project Team