Home Visiting Services With Justice-Involved Families

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes the instability of parental incarceration as an adverse childhood experience that can negatively affect health, behavior, and achievement in the long term. For millions of children, this potentially traumatic event has been part of their reality.

Home visiting can support families with young children, including caregivers still at home, when parents are in jail or prison. Programs can also adapt services to help incarcerated parents maintain bonds with their children and prepare to reenter the community.

This brief offers a glimpse into five home visiting initiatives operating in the carceral setting:

• Minnesota Prison Doula Project
•  Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment (Minnesota)
• The Child and Family Research Center (Nevada)
• Maternity Care Coalition (Pennsylvania)
• Florida State University Young Parents Project

Readers can learn about innovations specific to each profile or cross-initiative recommendations for programs considering similar work.