The Problem A small group of children have endemic poor life outcomes – lives that lead to involvement in the Criminal Justice System – and they are unrecognized and unsupported, the children of offenders! Failing to recognize and support these children reduces their chances for a successful life and imposes significant costs on our society. While anyone can go to prison, certain groups within society go to prison more frequently - the poor, Aboriginals, and those with family histories of abuse, neglect and correlated problems such as addiction. There is however one other crucially important distinguishing trait – a disproportionate number of offenders come from families in which at lease one other family member has been incarcerated – and yet no Ministry or program in BC recognizes or supports these children. These children are invisible within the broader grouping of issues like poverty, and family problems and so face a life of shame, poor self esteem, and neighborhoods of lower socio-economic indicators There are few studies done documenting the actual number of children affected, but the research available suggests that in BC approximately 4800 children at any one time have parents serving a sentence (2160 in the Lower Mainland), and a total of 97,694 minors (43,962 in the Lower Mainland) have a parent who has served a sentence! There is even less information on the costs of this intergenerational pattern of offence and incarceration. We know that it takes the combined taxes of roughly 7 Canadian taxpayers to pay for the incarceration of one man for one year, and roughly 11.5 taxpayers to incarcerate one woman for one year with Correctional Services Canada. Setting children up for a life of incarceration therefore has substantial long term costs attached. We also know that there is substantial cost to society in general, from crime. There is a compelling argument to be made that we cannot afford not to deal with the issues that the children of offenders face. We understand clearly the impact of parental incarceration on children and it is substantial: • Children of male offenders normally live with their mother and typically in poverty. They lack a male role model and experience the effects of poverty and social stigma; • Children of female offenders are classically placed in foster care or live with their extended family. They experience significant disruption of their main parental connection and often remain in poverty; • Children of both male and female offenders experience emotional problems (feelings of fear, anxiety, shame, abandonment, guilt) and exhibit behavioral problems such as substance abuse, gang participation, and truancy; • In all cases, children of offenders experience significant disruption as a result of the actions of adults whom they love, rely on and need: either the removal of a parent to prison or the knowledge that a parent has offended.