Only two of the 38 states reported formally training their staff to work with incarcerated parents. .
Many police forces do not have standard procedures or policies on dealing with children the time of arrest. Because of this lack of policy one in five children will witness their parent's arrest, while others may not even be told where their parent has gone (Katz 1998). There is also a lack of policy on were to place children upon arrest of the parent, this results in some children being left with neighbors and other taken to the police station. .
Bob Shelby, the Ames Police School Resource Officer, stated that the Ames Police Force does not currently have special polices or training on dealing with children of incarcerated parents. While he said that each individual case varies, in Ames when the parents are arrested police force first tries to place the child with a family member. If that is not possible the Department of Human Services is contacted and the child is placed in temporary foster care.
Following arrest it is difficult for parents to contact their children from prison as out-going calls are collect. Also, the visiting hours of prison often do not coincide with the caseworkers work schedule making arranging visits difficult (Katz 1998; Beckerman 1998). When visits are arranged, they are in impersonal booths or rooms that do not allow for the contact with the parent the children may require. Another problem is that prison for women are often located quite a distance form the mother's home. This makes travel difficult and costly for the family and caseworker (Beckerman 1998). .
Some forms of contact between parents and children have become easier in recent years because of the use of phone cards. Contact has also been improved through the imitation of new programs. Michael, a prison guard in Newton, Iowa said that at Michellville, parents are allowed to tape bedtime stories to send home to their children.
