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http://www.YOUTH.gov/COIP

WHO CAN USE THIS GUIDE? 

This discussion guide is designed for school staff who provide direct supports and services to students: 

teachers, administrators, and support staff (e.g., school social worker, psychologist, guidance counselor, 

librarian, art teacher, PE teacher, cafeteria worker, custodian, bus driver).

This guide was developed to accompany the video, 

Supporting Youth with Incarcerated Parents: For School 

Staff, created by American Institutes for Research (AIR) 

for the Federal Interagency Council on Crime Prevention 

and Improving Reentry and youth.gov to highlight issues 

affecting youth who have or have had an incarcerated 

parent. Content for the video builds on learning from 

previous work, including a youth listening session about 

the needs of youth with an incarcerated parent and their 

families and the effects of incarceration on everyday life, 

including a child’s education.

Content for the video was informed by focus group phone 

calls with youth, educators, and experts who work with 

youth with incarcerated parents. AIR partnered with Echoes 

of Incarceration and Osborne Association of New York to 

record the featured youth, educators, and experts.

In an effort to extend this learning opportunity, we have 

developed a list of discussion questions to foster positive 

conversations at the school level. These conversations 

are intended to expand school staff’s awareness and 

understanding of the needs of children and youth with 

incarcerated parents, expand classroom and school-wide 

practices to better address their needs, and explore ways 

to promote improved educational outcomes for these 

students.

ACTIVITY IDEAS

Option One: The discussion 

questions can be reviewed and 

deliberated as a large group, 

or the school staff could be 

divided into smaller groups. In 

smaller groups, each group 

or table could take a different 

question to discuss then share 

their conversation with the larger 

group promoting peer-to-peer 

learning.

Option Two: This learning 

opportunity could be extended 

throughout the quarter of a 

school year, where each question 

is presented in a “faculty-study” 

format that allows one question 

to be studied each month 

with a report out at monthly 

professional development 

activities. Utilizing the additional 

resources found on page 2 may 

be an excellent start to extend 

learning through individual and 

group reading.

DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR SCHOOL STAFF

Video: Supporting Youth with Incarcerated Parents
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO EXTEND THE LEARNING

Dallaire, D. H. (2010). Teachers’ experiences with and expectations of children with incarcerated parents. Journal 

of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(4), 281-290.

Federal Youth Topic on Children of Incarcerated Parents: https://youth.gov/coip 

• Video Vignettes (Four youth share their experiences with having an incarcerated parent): 

https://youth.gov/coip/video

• Teacher Tip Sheet (Recommendations for how teachers can contribute to positive outcomes): 

https://youth.gov/youth-topics/children-of-incarcerated-parents/federal-tools-resources/tip-sheet-teachers

• Teacher Webinar (90-minute archived presentation, featuring two experts in the field, an educator, and a youth 

with lived experience of having an incarcerated parent): https://youth.gov/youth-topics/children-ofincarcerated-parents/presentations

• Infographic (Facts and statistics showing the impact of incarceration): https://youth.gov/sites/default/files/

COIPInfographic_508.pdf

Felitti et al. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of 

death in adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245-258.

National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated: 

https://nrccfi.camden.rutgers.edu/

Osborne Association: Programs and Services for Families Affected by the Justice System: http://www.osborneny.

org/

Poehlmann, J., & Eddy, J. M. (2013). Relationship processes and resilience in children with incarcerated parents. 

Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. 

San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership: Bill of Rights: http://www.sfcipp.org/download-thebill-of-rights-1

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Increase school personnel’s awareness 

and understanding of the experiences and 

issues faced by students with incarcerated 

parents.

2. Identify classroom and school-wide 

practices and strategies that educators 

and experts can use to address the needs 

of students with incarcerated parents (e.g., 

trust, abandonment, guilt, stigma, secrecy, 

relational struggles, understanding the 

justice system, as well as strengths such as 

resiliency and ability to forgive).

3. Highlight the role of trauma and traumainformed practices and strategies for 

addressing the needs of students with 

incarcerated parents.

4. Identify ideas for potential policy change that 

may impact the experience of school as a 

safe and inclusive environment for students 

with incarcerated parents.

5. Identify ways to promote positive educational 

outcomes for students with incarcerated 

parents.

PLANNING TIPS

• Decide who will facilitate the 

conversation. 

• Ideally, the chosen facilitator should 

review the discussion prompts and 

additional resources (included below) 

ahead of time and consider adjusting 

them to meet their setting and audience 

needs.

• Plan for participants to watch the full 

video (approximately 25 minutes long). 

• Allow about 30 minutes to discuss the 

prompts. If the group is larger than 10 

people, consider breaking into small 

groups.

• The facilitator may need to answer 

general questions about the video 

content prior to discussion prompts. 
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DISCUSSION PROMPTS

1. Identify two or more facts or data points that you learned through viewing this video. Did any of 

these surprise you? Were any particularly meaningful to you? Did any change your outlook about 

your role in the school?

Remember: 2.7 million young people have an incarcerated parent. That is the equivalent of 1 in 28 youth.

2. How might schools make the student body aware that 1 in 28 youth has an incarcerated parent? 

Name 3 to 5 specific activities (school-wide and/or in the classroom) that may help increase 

awareness among students and staff that there are students in the school with an incarcerated 

parent. 

Remember: Students with incarcerated parents often feel alone or that they are the only one with an 

incarcerated parent. Balance support without “outing” students who do not want it to be known.

3. Regardless of your role in the school, you have the capacity to be influential in altering policy and 

practices to better address the needs of children and youth with incarcerated parents. Identify 3 or 

4 policies and practices in your classroom or school that might be reconsidered or added in order 

to be more inclusive of these students. Share examples of language choices that are effective and 

inclusive of students with an incarcerated parent.

Remember: YOU can be a powerful and trusted adult for students with an incarcerated parent.

4. Knowing a student may have visited a parent at a facility over the weekend, how can you help 

manage his or her feelings and behaviors as he or she adjusts and transitions back into the school 

day?

Remember: The student may be dealing with the many feelings that come after a visit, including the pain of 

leaving a parent behind. Try to empathize and provide extra support of the parent-child relationship in the 

days that follow a visit as well as throughout the year.

5. In your role on the school staff, if you learn that there is a student whose parent is absent from the 

home due to incarceration, what are some trauma-informed* approaches, supports, or strategies 

you might use to promote positive interactions and outcomes with the 1) student, and 2) student’s 

caregiver?

Remember: Approaches may differ depending on each staff person’s role in the school.

* A program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential 

paths for recovery; recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system; 

and responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and seeks to actively resist retraumatization. (Source: SAMHSA)

Trauma Resources

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and 

Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4884. Rockville, MD: Author. 

DeCandia, C. J., & Guarino, K. (2015). Trauma-informed care: An ecological response. Journal of Child and 

Youth Care Work.

Refer to page two for additional resources focusing on supporting youth with an incarcerated parent.