Mothers In Prison: How Do You Help Children Cope?

Of all of life's experiences, being jailed is probably the most stressful.  According to The Sentencing Project, the population of women in prison is steadily rising. Between 1980 and 2014 the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 700%, rising from a total of 26,378 in 1980 to 215,332 in 2014. This is the resut of more expansive law enforcement efforts, stiffer drug sentencing laws, and post conviction barriers to reentry that uniquely affect women. Women now comprise a larger portion of the prison population than ever before. More than 60% of women in state prisons have a child under the age of 18. So how are these children coping with the incarceration of their mothers? Our guest today, prison chaplain Queen Mother Helen Sinclair discusses the challenges of women in prison with minor aged children, and how the community can come together to keep these children from falling through the cracks.