Thu | Mar 28, 2024

135K Kentucky kids have had parent in jail

Published:Monday | April 25, 2016 | 9:30 AMAP

UNITED STATES

KENTUCKY (AP):

A new report has concluded that Kentucky has the highest percentage of children in the nation who have had a parent in jail.

Citing a report released yesterday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Courier-Journal reports that 13 percent of Kentucky children, 135,000, reported in 2011-12 that they had a parent incarcerated at some point in their lives. That percentage is nearly double the national average of seven percent.

Kentucky Youth Advocates Executive Director Terry Brooks says parental incarceration exacts a devastating toll on families and society at large by creating an "unstable environment" for children, with the effects being long-lasting.

The report uses data from the 2011-12 National Survey of Children's Health, the latest available.