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Most families experience financial losses as a result of parental incarceration and the loss is greatest for those families who try to maintain the convicted individual as a family member. There are the costs of maintaining the household, the loss of income of the imprisoned parent who was contributing to the household, legal fees associated with criminal defense and appeals, the costs associated with maintaining contact during imprisonment and the costs of maintaining the prisoner while he is in prison.

Grandparents and other relatives, who take care of the children of incarcerated fathers/mothers, certainly incur additional financial expenses.

The protection, care, and nurturance of prisoners’ children is a primary concern of prisoners and their families. When parents go to prison, most children go, or continue, to live with relatives. Accordingly, prisoners and their families experience a tremendous sense of loss when incarceration occurs and that loss is compounded when children are involved.

Prisoners’ children and families must also deal with feelings of shame and social stigma. Imprisonment is neither a reason for celebration nor a reason to be proud. It is not the goal one seeks for oneself or one’s children. Many family members do not tell even their closest friends about a relative’s incarceration and go to great lengths to protect the prisoner’s children from the consequences of revealing this family secret.