Join Children of Incarcerated Caregivers for a dynamic day of learning, offering feedback, and shaping future policy to center the human rights and best interests of youth whose parents face incarceration.

On April 17, we will be presenting innovative policies and gathering community and stakeholder feedback, with the goal of implementing change in Minnesota. You’ll have the chance to hear from formerly incarcerated parents, adult children who were impacted by parental incarceration, and people working in the fields of law and corrections.

Our panels and breakout workshops will feature promising interventions identified by our students and Policy Team, such as:

• Incorporating information about minor children into bail evaluations 
• Creating a “Caregiver Court,” a parenting track within Minnesota’s specialty court system
• Using guardians ad litem in criminal proceedings to represent the best interests of children whose parents face incarceration

We look forward to sharing our work, hearing your feedback, and pursuing policies that center the rights & voices of children whose parents are involved in the criminal legal system. Lunch will be provided. The Symposium will be held at Mondale Hall, University of Minnesota. The Symposium and Reception are both free and open to the public, but advance registration is encouraged.

Symposium Schedule

8:30 a.m.         Check-in
9:00 a.m.         Welcome
9:10 a.m.          Project Introduction
9:30 a.m.         “I wanna talk to my kids”: The Impacts of Parental Incarceration – Keynote Speech by Dr. Ebony Ruhland
10:00 a.m.       Motivating Change: Mapping State-Based Alternatives to Parental Incarceration
10:45 a.m.       The Child’s Sentence: Perspectives on Parental Incarceration
11:45 a.m.       Lunch
12:45 p.m.       Breakout Workshops
     Workshop 1: Child-focused visitation in prisons and jails
     Workshop 2: Guardians ad litem for children with parents in criminal legal proceedings
2:15 p.m.         Specialty court models for parents in Minnesota
3:15 p.m.         Considering parent-child relationships during the pretrial process
4:15 p.m.         Closing

Join us for a reception at Weisman Art Museum from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.! Dr. Amelious Whyte, the current Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion & Public Engagement and former interim inaugural Director for the Liberal Arts Engagement Hub, will speak about the mission of the Hub.

Emily Baxter, founder of We Are All Criminals, will lead a guided tour of WAM’s SEEN exhibition. SEEN features currently incarcerated artists in collaboration with local artists, activists, and academics. Together, they explore issues of incarceration, isolation, healing, and coming home.