Question

Timmy has been imprisoned for theft. he is worried about his three children, who are dependent on him. his attorney tells him that he should not worry, because federal legislation will provide counseling, education, and training to them. which act is timmy's attorney talking about?

Answer 1

Timmy's attorney is talking about the "Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997". This act was passed to safeguard children from a harmful familial environment. Studies showed that having one or both parents in jail posed a negative impact on the children's psyche. The probability of developing mental disorders and serious psychological problems is higher in children who had incarcerated parents. To address this issue, this act was passed with the children's utmost welfare in mind. The children will undergo counseling to alleviate the trauma that they could have acquired during that stressful event in their life, their educational and basic needs will also be cared for. During this time, this act will also determine whether to end parental rights.

Answer 2

There are two primary ways by which noncustodial parents with child support orders may intersect with the criminal justice system.

On one path, the noncustodial parent is not in compliance with a child support obligation and that noncompliance may lead to incarceration (short-term, primarily in local jails) as a result of either a civil contempt or criminal non-support action taken by the state.

The other way is for noncustodial parents who are incarcerated for a criminal offense and have a current or delinquent child support obligation. The incarceration is not related to child support and they may be incarcerated for longer periods of time in a state or federal prison. While child support isn’t the reason for incarceration for these parents, the ongoing child support obligation has repercussions for their confinement, release and re-entry.

As of Dec. 31, 2015 there were approximately 1.53 million people in federal and state prison. More than 50 percent of those inmates have one or more child under the age of 18, leaving an estimated 2.7 million children with a parent incarcerated. In addition, a 2003 study estimated that one quarter of inmates in prisons had a child support case. Based on current prison populations, this suggests that approximately 400,000 inmates have a child support case.

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