THELMA GUERRERO
Statesman Journal
April 13, 2007
Sareina Hernandez is angry at her mother for erasing any chance of having a normal mother-daughter relationship while growing up.
"This isn't the first time she's gone to prison," Hernandez, 13, said about her mother, Tiffany Turner, who was imprisoned on drug charges. "She's been there on and off since I was born. I feel sad and angry a lot because she doesn't see what she's doing to me. It's almost like I'm locked up in prison, too."
Hernandez, a seventh-grader at Parrish Middle School in Salem, is one of an estimated 774 youths in Marion County who have a parent in jail or prison.
Statewide, an estimated 100,000 Oregon children have a parent involved in the criminal justice system in some form, whether it's prison, probation, parole, or ordered anger management.
Children of incarcerated parents are an invisible population, said Cheryl Hansen, the executive director of the Children's Justice Alliance.
They often endure a silent sentence of their own, she said.
"People don't know about these children and, in many cases, they don't want to hear about them," Hansen said. "Communities will say, 'We don't have that problem,' but every community in the state of Oregon has the problem.
"It's just very well hidden."
No statewide figures exist on the exact number of children in Oregon whose parents are incarcerated because there is no system in place that asks offenders if they have children.
To complicate matters, many prisoners won't mention their children because they believe they'll be put in foster care, Hansen said.
The Oregon Department of Human Services reports that 71 percent of children enter foster care because of parental drug abuse.
In Marion County, 74 percent of children in foster care were removed from their parents because of drug abuse, according to the Marion County Children of Incarcerated Parents Initiative, a program that offers family support for children with parents involved in the criminal-justice system.
The most basic need, and often the most difficult, is for children to stay in touch with the imprisoned parent, Hansen said.
"These children still love their moms and dads," Hansen said. "They're more stable, do better in school, and the same is true of the parents.
"It gives parents an incentive to find ways to be successful both in prison and when they get out."
tguerrero@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6815
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3 comments:
Mark,
This breaks my heart my heart. I have recently witnessed the destruction of especially Meth in the area. I lived in Tularosa for 5 years before moving to Alamo (I know not much beter) It destroys the whole family and the children are the victims. I thought that was the area I wanted to work in after graduation and now I am not sure. I think it would destroy me.
Isn't funny for every social cancer the first step is availbility to resources ie education, incentives, support and access.
Wendy
Wendy, Meth is the most insidious drug that I have seen affect our society in my 50 plus years of existence. I can tell you some personal horror stories about ex friends of mine who for all intents and purposes no longer exist. Here is one little example. In 1990 I loaned $6,000 to a friend of over ten years to start a business here in Alamogordo. Thanks to his Meth addiction he ran a thriving restaurant into the ground in a little over two years. Neddless to say I never saw a dime of my money. He and his family fled the state shortly after and I have had no word from anyone since. One interesting thing that I saw recently on a documentary concerning this destructive drug, is that China has adopted the use of meth for its workers. With the extremely long hours that many Chinese must work to survive, the government has unofficially accepted the use of Meth to increase work potential. I do not think that these billion plus citizens understand the complications that come from Meth usage. It literally eats away at areas of the brain! It will be interesting to see what happens in China reagarding this issue in the coming years. Thank you for your post. Sincerely, Mark.
I think there are alot of things to look at when giving a drug abused incarcerated parent thier children back after getting out of prison. I know alot of these prisoners have to pass drug tests on a regular basis, and if they dont pass they will possibily lose thier children for good. I don't beleive they should get thier children back because I know the affects that drugs can to do a person. I have seen and heard too many cases of abused and neglected children due to drugs and I can't imagine a person being able to keep thier children with a drug problem. It is sad to think that many children are growing up in this type of environments.
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