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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Allison Hollihan, Director of New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents, on Support for Children of Incarcerated Parents
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Allison Hollihan, Director of the New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents, testified on the need for better support for children with incarcerated parents in New York City. She emphasized the long-term negative impacts of parental incarceration and provided several recommendations for city agencies to address this issue.
- Key recommendations included funding for community-based organizations, improved data collection across agencies, expansion of video visiting hours at Rikers Island, and designation of staff liaisons familiar with the criminal legal system.
- Hollihan urged for children of incarcerated parents to be considered a priority population for the Summer Youth Employment Program and suggested creating a dedicated working group within the Interagency Coordinating Council on Youth.
- She stressed that supporting these children could prevent their costly involvement in mental health, homeless, and criminal legal systems in the future.
Allison Hollihan
7:19:23
Hi.
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My name is Allison Holohan, and I'm the director for the New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents, a statewide partnership coordinated by Paws Work Association.
7:19:32
I will highlight the need for city agencies to better support the one in fourteen children who experienced the incarceration of a parent.
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Parental incarceration is an adverse childhood experience linked to long term negative health and mental health outcomes.
7:19:46
Sorry.
7:19:47
I just came out of the subway.
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I'm out of breath.
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Some key recommendations included in our written testimony are as follows.
7:19:53
Money is needed for community based organizations to provide tailored services to support the unique needs of these children.
7:20:00
Data collection is needed to inform service delivery across systems collaboration.
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Local data is limited, but we know from a 2019 youth risk behavior survey that one in five New York City high school students experienced the parental incarceration, and it's vital that this question be continued in future surveys.
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We urge NYPD to collect data on how many children are present during a parent's arrest and for ACS to collect data on how many children experience parental incarceration.
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We urge DOC to expand video visiting to include weekend and evening hours so the children who don't have to miss school to visit, and we ask for Rikers to reinstate Saturday visits for ACS Children of Incarcerated Parents Program.
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Currently, these visits occur only on a school day.
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Funding must be fully restored for community based providers to deliver services to our records including family focused reentry.
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We recommend that ACS and its provider agencies have designated staff liaisons who are familiar with the criminal legal system.
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Children of incarcerated parents should be considered as a priority population for the summer youth employment program.
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And finally, the interagency coordinating council on youth should create a children of incarcerated parents working group.
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Taking steps to identify and support these children sets up children for success, rather costly involvement in the mental health, homeless, and criminal legal systems.
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Thank you, for your time today.
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Know you've been there forever.