If you follow our work closely, you know that the Law Library of Congress often produces foreign, comparative, and international law reports on a wide range of important issues. Our recently completed report, titled Laws on Children Residing with Parents in Prison, surveys the laws of ninety-seven countries related to young children residing in prison with an incarcerated parent (particularly mothers). The report also provides available statistical information regarding how many children reside with a parent in these countries’ prisons. In addition, our survey highlights key international measures on the issue, including those produced by the United Nations and the European Union.
The issue of what happens to children when a parent is incarcerated is one that has received attention from governments and organizations around the world. And certainly the scale of the issue is not small. For instance, according to a 2011 study (see p. 5) by the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), a non-governmental organization that participates in various United Nations activities, 800,000 children in the European Union (EU) are separated from “an incarcerated parent on a given day each year.” A 2010 U.S. Department of Justice report