Children of the Incarcerated: Our Time is Now

The U.S. Dream Academy in the U.S. will produce a series of accounts of the lived experiences of children of incarcerated parents faced with poverty and highlight their resilience in overcoming adversity. More than 2.2 million children have incarcerated parents and live largely in poverty. Parental incarceration is often associated with shame and stigma, and ultimately leads to poor education and mental health, particularly for minority communities. They will pilot their approach in Baltimore and build a platform of student-directed stories that capture their challenges and successes, and recruit influential people, such as celebrities and faith-based leaders, to help amplify the voices of young people and broaden the distribution channels. At the same time, US Dream will convene a diverse national group of experts and influencers to identify and promote scalable solutions to mitigate group stigmatization based on race.