By L. Parsons The Center for Child Well Being at Arizona State University (ASU) has hosted an annual summit on the state of incarceration for years. During the 2018 summit, it was made clear that children of the incarcerated were facing stigmas not often addressed. Part of that stigma came from the lack of representation of children of those in prison in media and resources available to them. Empathy through Literacy is a program dedicated to assuring representation occurs. The director for the center and associate professor in the School of Social Work at ASU Judy Krysik said, “We heard caregivers talk about how they were protecting kids by not letting them know that their parents were incarcerated. This was because the children they were caring for were facing social stigmas at school and on the playground about their parents being in prison.” The stigmas surrounding incarceration cause many issues in children, Krysik continued. “We see behavioral, emotional and systemic issues in these kids,” she said. She explained that caregivers sometimes tell children that their parents are on vacation, deployment or are attending college. “If the kids are telling stories, it’s something bad and to be ashamed of.” Arizona is currently fourth in the nation for incarceration. As Krysik said, “About two million children are affected by incarceration right now across the country, with five million having dealt with it at some point in their lives.” In order to help lift the stigmas and communication issues faced by families affected by incarceration, Melinda Bornucki, communications and events manager for the Center for Child Well Being spearheaded the Empathy through Literacy program. “I came across some books that featured children of incarcerated parents as the main character. I thought, this would be great resource for families that are affected by this,” she said. The books have a variety of scenarios and authors but the one thing they all have in common is incarceration. Bornucki continued, “These books teach empathy and that helps in stigma reduction. As I was researching this, I discovered there were about 45 more books out there that address this issue. I know my list of 45 isn’t even comprehensive, there are even more out there.” She then began asking library districts throughout the state to display a poster she had commissioned with the books listed on it. She discovered that people were interested in reading the posted books but that libraries in rural areas did not have the funds to purchase them. Through piecemeal fundraising, Bornucki was able to raise some money. “We were fortunate enough to be contacted by the Hickey Foundation who awarded us a grant to pay for books in 13 libraries across the state.” The books have been purchased and are awaiting delivery to libraries in Arizona. Due to the pandemic, delivery has been postponed but will resume as soon as possible. “We purchased the books through Changing Hands bookstore, which is an Arizona-based store with locations in Tempe and Phoenix. We wanted to keep the money in our state instead of sending it to a big corporation. The plan is to continue that relationship as the project grows.” Promoting the program began statewide when an NBA player got involved. Zylan Cheatham, forward for the New Orleans Pelicans and an ASU Sundevil alum reached out to Bornucki. She explained, “When he was a child, his father was incarcerated. He knew the struggles he had because of it and decided he would like to help raise awareness for the situation and to help us promote the Empathy through Literacy project. The posters now feature Cheatham and the slogan, “Sometimes even parents make mistakes” has become the mantra of the project. Bornucki continued, “It is important that we let children and their caregivers know that they are not alone in their situation and that these books can be a great way to start the conversation at home.” Her goal is to reach all of Arizona. “We want to expand to school libraries, community centers and anywhere there’s a child who is impacted by incarceration,” Borucki said. In addition to reaching libraries and readers statewide, she explained that ASU is hosting a webinar to help educate caregivers on the stigmas of incarceration and what they can do to end those. “We are offering a free educational summit, virtually of course, every Wednesday in October.” Topics discussed in the summit will include race, economics, public schools and support systems, advocacy for children of incarcerated parents and the difficulties faced upon reentry. Registration is open now at www. childwellbeing.asu.edu/incarcerationsummit. “We want to reach as many families as possible who are directly or indirectly affected by incarceration,” Bornucki concluded, “The more people we have supporting these children, the better.” The Winslow Library, located at 420 W. Gilmore St., will be part of the Empathy through Literacy program.
