April 7, 2008

Report to the Twenty-fourth Hawaii State

In this report, the Department of Human Services states that Hawai`i does not systematically collect data on children of incarcerated parents. However, based upon samples of populations from local research projects, estimates have been calculated. The calculations are based on two samples of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons in Hawai`i. It is not known to what extent these samples are representative of all incarcerated persons in Hawai`i. National estimates from the Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents suggest that 75% of female inmates are parents to an average of 2.4 children, while approximately 66% of male inmates are parents to an average of 2.0 children. The Hawai`i samples vary greatly from the national estimates.