HJ0075 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0075 LRB094 16969 RLC 52249 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, reported that 1,498,000 children had a parent in prison in 1999, an increase of more than 500,000 since 1991; in that study, 46% of the parents reported living with their children prior to incarceration; the survey estimated that 336,300 U.S. households with minor children are affected by the imprisonment of a resident parent; and

WHEREAS, As the new millennium advances, the plight of children impacted by parental incarceration is among the most pervasive problems challenging correction policymakers and child welfare advocates; research results show that when a parent is incarcerated, the lives of their children are disrupted by separation from parents, severance from siblings, and displacement to different caregivers, a large number placed in foster care; and

WHEREAS, About 80% of the roughly 2,800 women locked up in Illinois are mothers; and

WHEREAS, Studies show that the more contact parents have with their children, the less likely they are to reenter the penal system and the less likely their children are to be involved in delinquent behaviors; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is responsible for the care and maintenance of hundreds of children whose parents are incarcerated in Illinois Department of Corrections facilities; and

WHEREAS, The importance of parent/child visitation is acknowledged by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in its rules (89 Ill. Adm. Code 301.210(a)) which provide: "The Department recognizes that there is a strong correlation between regular parental visits and contacts with a child and the child's discharge from placement services"; and

WHEREAS, The locations of the State's penal facilities often create logistical obstacles, preventing frequent in-person contacts between these children and their incarcerated parents, as a result, these children are often restricted to 4 visits a year, or less, although State officials recognize that more frequent contacts would be in the children's best interests; and

WHEREAS, It would be in the best interests of many children of incarcerated parents to be able to visit at least monthly with their parents by way of video conferencing at the offices of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the child welfare agencies; and

WHEREAS, While video conferencing is not a substitute for actual face to face visitation, when used as a tool to bridge the distance and time until the next physical visit, it can be extremely beneficial and will nurture parent-child relationships, however, the availability of video-conferencing should in no way reduce or limit the child's opportunity to have in person visitation with the parent, but should supplement that in person contact; and

WHEREAS, Through the use of high speed Internet services, the costs related to video conferencing have been greatly reduced; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Corrections and the Women's Treatment Center sponsor a program called "Parent and Child Together" (PACT), a small video conferencing program which allows about 100 incarcerated women at the Decatur Correctional Center to "visit" with their children 180 miles away in a networked Chicago office; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Corrections has concluded that this program has been a success; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Illinois Department of Corrections shall jointly prepare a report as to the costs and feasibility of providing monthly video conferencing visitation to appropriate children in State care, whose parents are incarcerated in facilities of the Illinois Department of Corrections, where there is a judicial finding that video conference visitation, as supplement to in person visitation, would be in the child's best interests; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Illinois Department of Corrections shall present the report to the General Assembly no later than October 1, 2006; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the Director of Children and Family Services and the Director of Corrections.