This session will explore children’s experiences when parents are involved in the criminal legal system and consider how caregivers and professionals can support children before, during, and after these experiences. We will explore how best to support children’s behaviors and emotions around parent-child contact (e.g., visits in a prison or jail), as well as when separations are more permanent (e.g., long-term prison sentences with no contact). We will consider these experiences through a developmental lens, considering children’s needs at different ages.

Rebecca Shlafer, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. Professor Shlafer is a developmental child psychologist with additional training in maternal and child public health. Her research and teaching activities sit at the intersection of child development, public health, and the criminal legal system. She collaborates with many community-based organizations that provide support to incarcerated parents and their children. In addition, she is leading a statewide initiative, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health, to implement model jail practices for strengthening families affected by incarceration in jails across the state.