Crow Wing Energized: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Incarcerated Parents [BrainerdDispatch.com]

Did you know having a family member in jail is an Adverse Childhood Experience and could result in lifelong problems for the child?

Fact: "Children of incarcerated parents are six times more likely to land in prison themselves! Sadly, teens with an incarcerated parent are three times more likely than their peers to drop out of high school and engage in delinquent behavior. An overwhelming majority of kids who have an incarcerated parent use drugs daily to cope." (www.resiliencetrumpsaces.org)

Here is a personal story from a Crow Wing County Jail inmate:

---

"When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I had my dad in my life. He was always there until my parents started using drugs, and to me, they stopped caring about us kids."

---

"When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I had my dad in my life. He was always there until my parents started using drugs, and to me, they stopped caring about us kids. He spent the next 10 years in and out of jails and prison. I felt like I had lost both parents. My mom was an addict and was never sober. My dad was nowhere.

"That's when I started acting up in school, always mad, sad or just hateful to anyone and everyone. At the age of 10, I started stealing cigarettes and liquor from my mother. I remember once my grandmother tried to come get me to visit my dad in jail, but my mom wouldn't let me go. I cried and cried. Then I started sneaking letters to him. That was nice. By the time I was a teenager I was using liquor, crack and meth. It seems like my life has been in the shadows right behind my dad. Now my parents are sober, but I'm still in and out of county jails."