With the imprisonment of over 750,000 parents in the American criminal justice system, the stigma of incarceration creates a ripple effect that not only extends out into communities, but is passed from parent to child, generation to generation. In this way, incarceration only succeeds in helping maintain the cycle of incarceration, rather than disrupting it in any way. The burden of caring for these one million parentless children falls to the state, through the school systems, foster care, adoption agencies, and other youth service organizations, forcing big government to swell even further, through the consumption of taxpayer dollars.